The Competition Tribunal Partially accepted lawsuits by Voissnet S.A. and the National Economic Prosecutor’s Office against Compañía de Telecomunicaciones de Chile (CTC), stating that the latter engaged in practices deemed restrictive of free competition, with the objective of restricting entry to the plaintiff and to potential competitors to the market of telephone services. The lawsuit was dismissed in all the other charges.
Compañía de Telecomunicaciones de Chile S.A. had to pay a fine of 1,500 Annual Tributary Units (around US$ 1.4 million).
The Tribunal also modified all the contracts of the Megavía DSL service that Compañía de Telecomunicaciones de Chile S.A. had subscribed with ISPs, eliminating every prohibition or restriction to using broadband capacity for IP telephony, or for routing packages between users of the Megavía DSL Internet access service, as long as the prohibition constitutes an unjustified obstacle to the provision of IP telephony over broadband.
The Tribunal also ordered Compañía de Telecomunicaciones de Chile S.A. to abstain from restricting or making it difficult, in any way, the use of its broadband to provide IP telephony services in the future. The same order applies to routing packages between users of the Megavía DSL service, as long as this prohibition constitutes an unjustified obstacle to the provision of IP telephony over broadband. The defendant also must abstain from executing or celebrating any action, act or convention that tends to produce the described effects.
Lastly, the ruling dismissed Compañía de Telecomunicaciones de Chile S.A.’s counterclaim against Voissnet S.A., in which it accused the latter of disloyal competition actions.