Vivacom calls Yettel and A1’s concerns following CPC decision an act of “collusion”

Vivacom has called the statements made by A1 and Yettel (Bulgaria) operated by PPF Telecom on Bulgarian Commission on Protection of Competition (CPC) approval of the company’s acquisition of Networks-Bulgaria an act of collusion against the company.

The company said the allegations made by the pair were “wildly inaccurate”, “misleading” and inconsistent with the CPC’s findings.

Vivacom highlighted despite its growing market share across the fixed broadband market and pay TV market in Bulgaria, it still faces strong competition in relevant regional markets from A1 and local market player which holds a 28% and 35% fixed broadband market share respectively.

The company also noted that A1 has not raised concerns about its dominant position in Austria which it claims A1 has almost 50% of the country’s broadband subscribers.

According to Vivcom, A1 nor Yettel did not raise similar concerns in Serbia where United Group’s operator (SBB) has been consistently denied the entry into mobile market.

In an official statement Vivacom said, “The CPC has reviewed Vivacom’s cases with an exceptional level of scrutiny, conducting a forensic analysis of the facts, resulting in a comprehensive 104-page decision. The level of detail in the CPC enquiry is unprecedented in Bulgarian competition matters and more than meets best practice for countries in the European Union. Vivacom has actively cooperated with the review and has responded to over a dozen questionnaires sent by the CPC. It has also submitted detailed reports on both transactions prepared by NERA Economic Consulting, a leading international expert in merger control.”

“Vivacom has always fostered pro-competitive synergies, innovation, and improved services for Bulgarian consumers. We encourage all telco companies in Bulgaria, rather than making attempts to manipulate Bulgarian consumers and influence authorities with media statements, to focus on bringing value to the customer so that we all as an industry continue to develop our proposition and the quality of our service.”