ROME, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Italy's antitrust authority said on Saturday it had accepted commitments made by Telecom Italia to increase competition in the sector and ended a probe launched last year in response to complaints by competitors.
The antitrust body said it had 'accepted and made binding the commitments presented by the company and brings to an end, without any sanctions, the investigation launched into a possible abuse of a dominant position'.
The main commitment by Telecom Italia was that it would limit its activity of trying to win back customers who switched to rival operators.
An independent company will be responsible for ensuring that Telecom Italia's commercial department does not use data in possession of the network and wholesale department to contact lost clients.
In addition, a toll-free number will be set up on which customers can complain about 'aggressive offers' from Telecom Italia's sales staff.
The probe was launched in October last year after two rivals, Fastweb and Wind complained to the authority about Telecom Italia using an excessively aggressive campaign 'in a selective way towards clients who had passed, or were about to pass to other operators.' Keywords: TELECOMITALIA COMPETITION/ (Reporting by Gavin Jones; Editing by Victoria Main; Rome newsroom; gavin.jones@reuters.com; Phone: +39-06-8522-4232) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
The antitrust body said it had 'accepted and made binding the commitments presented by the company and brings to an end, without any sanctions, the investigation launched into a possible abuse of a dominant position'.
The main commitment by Telecom Italia was that it would limit its activity of trying to win back customers who switched to rival operators.
An independent company will be responsible for ensuring that Telecom Italia's commercial department does not use data in possession of the network and wholesale department to contact lost clients.
In addition, a toll-free number will be set up on which customers can complain about 'aggressive offers' from Telecom Italia's sales staff.
The probe was launched in October last year after two rivals, Fastweb and Wind complained to the authority about Telecom Italia using an excessively aggressive campaign 'in a selective way towards clients who had passed, or were about to pass to other operators.' Keywords: TELECOMITALIA COMPETITION/ (Reporting by Gavin Jones; Editing by Victoria Main; Rome newsroom; gavin.jones@reuters.com; Phone: +39-06-8522-4232) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.