The president of Autoridade da Concorrência, Manuel Sebastião, said today that he is confident in the result of the appeal presented by the body he directs, to the court decision that exempted Portugal Telecom from paying a fine of 38 million euros.
The fine was the result of a process analyzed by the Competition Authority between 2003 (date of complaints) and 2007 (date of decision), following complaints filed by competitors of the operator.
The Competition Authority concluded that PT had used its dominant position to hinder competitors’ access to conduits and punished the company with the heaviest fine in the sector’s history in Portugal. The Commerce Court, for its part, held that monopolistic practices have not been proven.
Today, after a parliamentary hearing at the Economic Affairs Committee, Manuel Sebastião admitted that it was for him «a very big surprise» the decision of the Commerce Court that absolved PT from paying the fine, since the AdC process «had all the merit «.
Cited by Jornal de Negócios, the same official said he was «very hopeful about the appeal» which, according to him, is very well done. This appeal was submitted by the AdC to the Tribunal da Relação.
The same source reveals that the AdC is carrying out a study on broadband, according to information from the same official.
