The European Commission has fined Wanadoo Interactive, a subsidiary of France Telecom, EUR 10.35 million for abuse of its dominant market position by charging predatory prices for its ADSL-based Internet access services. The EC found that, up to October 2002, the retail prices charged by Wanadoo were below cost and thereby created a barrier to market entry for potential competitors. The EC also found that the effects of Wanadoo’s conduct were not confined to ADSL competitors, but extended to cable operators offering high-speed Internet access. The abuse came to an end in October 2002, when France Telecom introduced new wholesale ADSL prices that are 30% less than what it previously charged. Broadband growth in France has subsequently picked up. The number of Internet subscribers in France grew more between September 2002 and March 2003 (seven months) than between March 2001 and August 2002 (seventeen months).http://europa.eu.int/
- In a statement, Wanadoo said it deplores the decision of the European Commission and that it would consider an appeal. The company said the decision sends the wrong signal to entrepreneurs who take the risk of builiding up a new market.
In June 2003, France Telecom announced a new push to extend DSL through France. The company is now targeting 3 million ADSL customers by year-end 2003 and that ADSL coverage will be available to 90% of the population by 2005. France Telecom now expects to have 8,000 DSLAMs deployed in 2005, compared with 3,000 today. This will require 7,500 km of new fiber deployments. The company plans to invest EUR 600 million over three years in the broadband initiative.
At the end of 2002, 1.4 million people in France had broadband Internet connections and about 50,000 new accounts were being added per week. It now takes about 48 hours to get new ADSL service in Paris and about one week elsewhere in France.
In April 2003, The European Commission called on the French government to ensure the equal treatment for cable networks in the provisioning of telecommunications services in France. Noting that cable network operators in France account for less than 0.2 % of access to fixed telephony services, less than 15% of high-speed Internet access and less than 4% of Internet access markets as a whole, the EC is asking for the removal of restrictions on the provision of telecommunications services on cable networks. The Commission maintains that France has not complied with two previous directives on the issue.
