The council appealed the decision with the High Court of Justice on September 12.
In February, the Competition Council fined Orange Romania and Vodafone Romania EUR63 million for abuse of dominant position. Orange Romania was fined over EUR34 million and Vodafone over EUR28 million.
The two companies challenged the antitrust watchdog’s decision with the Bucharest Court of Appeals, which suspended the execution of the decision on May 19.
The decision to suspend the fine against Vodafone Romania was challenged by the council on July 5.
The Competition Council began an investigation in 2006, following a complaint filed by Netmaster Communications SRL. Orange, Vodafone and Romtelecom were accused of alleged abuse of dominant position on the telephony market.
Netmaster Communications said the three operators blocked a part of the international calls made by its clients. Orange and Vodafone charged interconnection prices ranging $0.15-0.18/minute, compared to a $0.10/minute maximum level set by the authority, said Chiritoiu.
Netmaster Communications posted 8.98 million lei turnover in 2007 and its gross profit was RON27,042, according to the last data sent to the Trade Registry. The company no longer exists – it was bought by New Com Telecomunicatii, which transferred its clients to RCS&RDS and Romtelecom after facing financial problems.
(EUR1=RON4.3112)