Italian operators fined over ringtone subscriptions

Italy's competition authority has fined various content suppliers and mobile operators a total of EUR 2.2 million for improper commercial practices regarding the sale of ringtones and multimedia content. Trading Markets reports.

According to the regulator, the promotional messages did not clearly state that by requesting the service, users did not only download the single ringtone but also subscribed to a subscription billed weekly from the phone bill. Also, the costs were unclear and it was difficult to dis-activate the service.

Among the operators fined are Telecom Italia (EUR 640,000), Vodafone Italia (EUR 560,000), Wind (EUR 480,000) and 3 Italia (EUR 155,000). The list of content suppliers fined includes Dada (EUR 125,000), Buongiorno (EUR 115,000), Zed (EUR 95,000) and Zeng (EUR 55,000).

emily | 8:58 AM | News, Buzz |
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