Swiss competition authority WEKO has imposed a 71.8M Swiss francs ($72.3M) fine against telcom Swisscom "for anti-competitive behaviour in the pay-TV sports rights business," according to Jörn Krieger of BROADBAND TV NEWS. WEKO said that with its subsidiaries Cinetrade and Teleclub, "Swisscom would dominate the market in particular in the area of live transmissions of games of the Swiss football and ice-hockey leagues and international football competitions on pay-TV as it holds long-term and comprehensive exclusive rights for sports content." The competition body accused Swisscom of having "misused its market-dominating position in several aspects." For example, the company "denied several competitors any offer for the distribution of live sports on their platforms." Other competitors like UPC Cablecom "were only granted access to a limited sports portfolio by Swisscom." Swisscom and Cinetrade "rejected the accusations, arguing that they are convinced that they have acted rightfully in the marketing of sports rights and that the fine is unjustified." Swisscom announced that "it would take action against the WEKO ruling at the Federal Administrative Court and, if necessary, the Federal Supreme Court" (BROADBAND TV NEWS, 5/24). LE NEWS reported last July, after an investigation that started in April '13, "the watchdog threatened Swisscom" with a fine of 143M Swiss francs. This fine was later reduced to 71.8M Swiss francs after WEKO "decided to take into account the fact that Swisscom had allowed competition at the beginning of the process" (LE NEWS, 5/24). TELECOM PAPER reported Swisscom and the Cinetrade Group "argue that they comply with the law in marketing sports programmes via pay-TV." From their point of view, the investments that Swisscom and Cinetrade have made in recent years for sports broadcasts on pay-TV "justify an expanded sports offering via the Swisscom TV platform." UPC Cablecom criticized WEKO’s other decision, "not to force Swisscom to undertake immediate commercial negotiations over the distribution of sports contents to customers of other providers." According to UPC, "this maintains the status quo." The sanction "misses the intended effect because Swisscom will still deliver to the State in its capacity as a state-owned company." Swiss cable association Suissedigital welcomed the fact that WEKO "recognised and penalised the misuse by Swisscom in the interest of all sports fans in Switzerland" (TELECOM PAPER, 5/24).
