Dutch Mobile Operators Commit To Refraining From Public Statements About Future Market Behaviour

In a press release of 21 November 2013, the Dutch Competition Authority (ACM) announced that it would terminate its investigation into a possible price-fixing cartel on the market of mobile telecommunications and accept binding commitments from the three major mobile providers in the Netherlands, T-Mobile, KPN and Vodafone.

The ACM investigated the way mobile telecom operators determine their pricing policy and competitive strategy, but found no evidence of price-fixing agreements. In the course of its investigation, however, the ACM found that certain public statements made by mobile operators with respect to future market behaviour could entail antitrust risks. According to the ACM, such risks can occur when companies make public statements (for instance, in the media, at conferences or in interviews for specialised magazines) concerning measures that will have a negative impact on consumers, at a time when it has not yet been decided that such measures will be