Chile: Competition tribunal rejects suit against Claro and Movistar

Chile’s Tribunal for the Defense of Free Competition (TDLC) has rejected the lawsuit presented by the National Corporation for Consumers and Users (CONADECUS) against mobile operators Movistar, CLaro and Entel. The suit, presented in 2014 by the consumer protection group, had accused the companies of conspiring against free competition.

CONADECUS held that the firms, which took part in a public contest for frequencies in the 700MHz range, had “exceeded the limits to the permitted range of spectrum that can be legally held by an operator which competes within Chile’s telecommunications market, thus hoarding this resource and placing its effective and efficient use at risk, as well as disturbing the necessary homogeneity in its distribution.”

The TDLC’s resolution has described these actions as “attempts to block or delay the arrival of new competitors”. However, the TDLC has rejected the lawsuit, considering that the CONADECUS had failed to offer clear and conclusive evidence of this accusation.

Full Content: Economía y Negocios

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