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SBB sued RATEL for the July 2019 decision to designate RATEL SBB and Telekom Srbija as “operators with significant market power” in the wholesale broadband market, that is, as monopolists in the Internet market, and for therefore it designated several operators for both operators. obligation.
SBB asserts that such a decision is moot, because Telekom is a much stronger “player” in the market, controlling key network infrastructure and has much greater user coverage, but it is also moot that RATEL did not take acquisitions into account. significant. Telecom also had the construction of an optical network in the previous period. The hearing was open to the public, but journalists were not allowed into the courtroom.
Telekom Srbija and SBB, while undoubtedly the main competitors in the Serbian telecommunications market, represent something completely different for RATEL. In July 2019, RATEL decided that SBB and Telekom are operators with significant market power, that is, they “act in a coordinated manner in the Internet access market.” The two companies, which are otherwise fighting fiercely for their share of the market pie, are RATEL monopoly boards, and that is why both companies are prescribed a series of obligations related to allowing other operators to access their network.
“Telekom Srbija and SBB operators are obliged to comply with the obligation of non-discriminatory treatment by providing services to other operators under the same conditions and with the same quality as for their own needs,” RATEL said.
This decision is debatable for SBB, so the company sued RATEL. SBB claims that the state Telecom controls the key infrastructure in Serbia and that it is a much stronger player in the Internet market. Network coverage shows that Telecom is in almost every household, unlike SBB, which covers 30 cities in the country.
It is surprising how RATEL neglected the public acquisitions of cable operators that Telekom had in the previous period, as well as the construction of the optical network throughout Serbia, which further strengthened Telekom’s position in the market. says SBB attorney Veljko Smiljanic.
“RATEL not only ignored that, but released the regulations for the entire Supernova network, which Telekom bought, and all the optics that Telekom has been building together with Huawei throughout Serbia in recent years. So, Telekom has been forced to offer services only to a network from which he himself escapes as quickly as possible, and SBB has regulated the entire active and current network. We believe that such a solution is unsustainable and we hope that the court will agree with us, “expects Smiljanic.
In RATEL’s practice, the existence of a common significant market power had never before been established. SBB asserts that such a decision prevents fair competition between a state company and a private company. However, RATEL did not appear at the hearing before the Administrative Court.
“RATEL has made several legal formulations by which it has shown or is trying to show that SBB and Telekom Srbija act together or in harmony in the market. It is clear to each of us as users that such a construction is unsustainable, we know that Telekom Srbija as the state operator and SBB as the largest private operator is a very intense and fierce competitor ”, Smiljanic recalls.
Although the trial was public, the journalists were prevented from entering the courtroom and after the hearing, explaining that “the teams of journalists interested in the trial did not announce themselves in court early enough.” Whether RATEL is right or wrong, it should make a decision next month.
SBB operates within the United Group, as does N1 television.
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