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Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic Annual Report 2001
9
the lessor of digital circuits proved that the undertaking applied different pricing conditions in providing
“Interconnect” and “Access” services (as part of one digital circuit) to end users using internet services
of the Slovak Telecommunications (based on tariff of undertaking Slovak Telecommunications these
users pay only the subscription for the so called Access service) compared to end users using internet
services of other internet providers (these users have the aliquot part of the costs for service
Interconnect included in the price of Access service). The undertaking Slovak Telecommunications
also applied the different price conditions providing these services to itself, it means to Slovak
Telecommunications and to other internet providers. Simultaneously the Office concluded that the
undertaking Slovak Telecommunications abused its dominant position in the relevant market of digital
circuits lease also in connection with the exclusion of direct access to Interconnect and Access
services for the end users of internet services. Coming out from the already mentioned tariff of Slovak
Telecommunications, these services have been provided only vicariously, through the internet services
providers, what constituted, according to the Office, the restriction of services sale to the detriment of
consumers by exclusion of direct provision of Interconnect and Access service for end users and also
the restriction of competition.
Further the Office concluded that in months May, June the Slovak Telecommunications as the lessor
of digital circuits invoiced different prices for a standard digital circuit to different internet users, where
the prices invoiced to internet users using ST’s services were lower (6000 Sk/month) than those
invoiced to internet users of other internet providers and to other internet providers, which have created
the second group of users. This second group of Slovak Telecommunication’s users were invoiced
higher prices (8 500,- Sk / month), what has constituted restriction of competition, as it is an identical
service, it means the identical fulfilment, which is the undertaking Slovak Telecommunications obliged
to provide under the same conditions.
Within the proceedings in question, the Office also dealt with a refusal to provide access to a local
circuit – essential facility, as the refusal to lease local circuits to internet users resulted in restriction
and exclusion of competition in the market of telecommunication services forming a secondary internet
market.
Slovak Telecommunications arbitrarily changed the local circuit lease service, normally provided to all
applicants for the charge 2000 Sk/month by its prequalification to lease of analogue circuit Analog plus
for the price 6000 Sk/month without any changes to technical, technological and qualitative parameters
of the service in question and without any additional financial or technological inputs. By not
subscribing the service Analog plus, users exposed themselves to a risk of Slovak Telecommunication
fitting a frequency filter to their leased local circuits, thus limiting the quality of data transfer on the
expense of the existing internet service end users. It was the installation of frequency filters that
aggrieved the relevant market of local circuit lease by restricting competition. Frequency filters
application devaluated natural transfer features of local circuits and the original local circuits have been
offered by Slovak Telecommunications as an extraordinary service three times more expensive under
the commercial name Analog plus, but this service achieves the parametres of the original local circuits
lease. Without the access to the system of local circuits, the technical progress using the most
advanced technologies, like xDSL technology with the significantly lower costs and with the lower
prices compared to the prices and costs for digital circuits provided by Slovak Telecommunications, is
de facto not possible. Such activities of the Slovak Telecommunications, holding a dominant position in
the relevant market of local circuit lease, the relevant market of data services (internet) provision,
where the ST is active in, is abuse of a dominant position. As the undertaking Slovak
Telecommunications submitted a complaint to the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republlic against this
valid decision of the Office and the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic abolished the valid decision
of the Office, the proceedings in the subjected matter is still going on at present days.
Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic abolished the subjected decision as they were not able to
examine it, they had the lack of reasons and they considered the learned status to be insufficient – the
Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic did not consider the particular statements of the decision to be
sufficiently comprehensible and explicit, resulted from the insufficiently investigated factual state of
matter. The Supreme Court obliged Office to receive the standpoint of the relevant competent
authority, it means the Telecommunication Office of the Slovak Republic and to complete the
argumentation by requiring the expert opinion on the particular issues.
It is necessary to emphasize that the unreasonable refusal of the access to the essential facility by the
dominant company, which owns or manages it (according to the competitors, it is not possible to
provide service to their customers without the access to the essential facility) is assessed as an abuse
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