From The Times
July 5, 2007
Telefonica fined €151m for abuse of market position
Rory Watson in Brussels

Telefónica, the Spanish telecoms operator, was fined €151 million (£102 million) by the European Commission yesterday for implementing anti-competitive practices against its domestic rivals between September 2001 and December 2006.

The fine is the highest –– after a €497 million penalty given to Microsoft –– to be imposed on a company for abusing its dominant position.

Neelie Kroes, the European Competition Commissioner, said that Telefónica’s behaviour had raised costs for competitors. “When consumers and businesses are harmed in such a major market, the entire economy suffers. I will not allow dominant companies to set prices that undermine telecoms liberalisation,” she said.

Telefónica was found guilty of operating a margin squeeze between the high wholesale rates that it charged rivals wishing to use its broadband access and the retail prices that it set for its own customers.
Background

Telefónica’s Profits Leap in Q3 2007

The carrier’s numbers for the first nine months of 2007 were even more impressive, with revenues of €42 billion ($61.2 billion) and net income of €7.8 billion ($11.4 billion), up by 8.6 percent and 51 percent respectively compared with the same period in 2006.

Telefónica is expecting its full year revenues to be between 8 percent and 10 percent higher than 2006’s €52.9 billion ($77 billion), putting its 2007 revenues range at €57.1 billion ($83.2 billion) and €58.2 billion ($84.8 billion).

With the numbers roughly in line with analyst expectations, following a very bullish recent set of investor day presentations, the carrier’s share price edged up only slightly, by less than 1 percent, to €22.58 on the Madrid exchange.

Telefónica now has 218 million customers worldwide (an increase of 12 percent from September 2006), including 160.2 million mobile subscribers (up 16 percent year on year), and 9.6 million retail broadband customers (up 32 percent year on year). Of those retail broadband customers, 4.3 million are in Spain, 4.7 million are in Latin America, and 572,000 are in Europe (excluding Spain).

what a fine then HA HA HA , think call that a tax wright off in spain , so still need a telphone line .......