French mobile phone firms fined

Three of France's leading mobile phone firms have been fined a total of 534m euros ($630m) after being deemed guilty of market collusion, reports the BBC.

"France's Competition Council concluded that Orange, SFR and Bouygues Telecom shared commercial information between themselves, distorting competition.

The three firms have denied that they compared and fixed their prices.

The Council said the three firms had regularly exchanged commercial information about the mobile market between 1997 and 2003. This enabled the firms to protect their position in the market, the Council said, to the detriment of consumers. Their actions had caused "significant damage" to the economy, it added. "

emily | 12:50 PM | News, Buzz |
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