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The European Commission has charged Slovak Telekom and Deutsche Telekom with breaching EU competition law. The Commission holds that Slovak Telekom, the country’s former monopoly telecom operator, has abused its market position and prevented competitors from entering the market by restricting access to its networks and by charging its rivals unfair prices. Deutsche Telekom, which owns 51% of Slovak Telekom, is also facing charges due to the “nature and degree of its links with its subsidiary”, the Commission said.



The charges, formally known as statement of objections, constitute a formal step in the EU’s antitrust procedure. The maximum fine for breaking antitrust laws in the EU is 10 per cent of the annual sales, although in practice the fines are often much smaller.