Orange and Sunrise have decided to fight the merger ban imposed upon them by Switzerland’s competition commission.
This content was published on
1 minute
The two telecommunications companies have filed an appeal with the federal administrative court, a spokeswoman for Orange told the Swiss News Agency on Thursday.
The Swiss foundation for consumer protection has expressed its dismay.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the foundation described Orange and Sunrise as stubborn for failing to consider the welfare of consumers.
In April the competition commission blocked the planned merger, arguing that the company resulting from the deal would have a dominant position in the mobile telephone market alongside rival Swisscom.
Swisscom’s history goes back to 1852, when the first public telegraph service opened between St Gallen and Zurich.
With 55.2 per cent of Swisscom’s share capital, the Swiss government has a majority holding in Swisscom.
Sunrise, formerly known as Newtelco, came onto the Swiss market in 1996. It belongs to the Danish telecoms operator TDC.
Orange Switzerland, which belongs to France Télécom, followed suit in 1999.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Orange and Sunrise are banned from hooking up
This content was published on
The decision was described as a “sensational victory” for consumers by the secretary general of the consumer federation in western Switzerland, Mathieu Fleury. The Competition Commission argued that the company resulting from the deal would have had a dominant position in the mobile telephone market alongside rival Swisscom. In a statement, the commission said a…
This content was published on
The group’s revenues dropped 1.6 per cent to SFr12 billion ($11.1 billion) in 2009 but profits rose nearly ten per cent to SFr1.9 billion thanks to a decrease in one-off charges from the previous year. The former state monopoly, which is still majority owned by the government, is facing increasing competition across the cable television,…
This content was published on
The company has already rejected the charge and has promised to fight the SFr333 million ($269 million) fine in the Federal Administrative Court, saying the accusation that it had abused its dominant position on the market was unfounded. The Federal Competition Commission (Comco) said on Friday that Swisscom Mobile had breached cartel rules between April…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.