Page 77 - SAMENA Trends - January 2022

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

EC Reimposes €79M Telefonica Fine

EC originally imposed the penalties 2013
over a deal the operators struck to avoid
competing in Iberian telecommunications
markets. The EC stated its latest decision
“takes full account” of a European General
Court ruling in 2016 which upheld a con-
clusion Telefonica and Pharol’s agreement
breached antitrust rules and which was
later affirmed by the Court of Justice. Al-
though the overall ethos of the EC decision
was backed by the General Court, it had
overturned the fines because it agreed with
the operators that certain markets should
have been excluded from the calculations.
The EC appears to have not deviated sig-
nificantly from its original assessment:
“The newly-imposed fines use the same
parameters as regards gravity, duration
and aggravating and mitigating circum-
The European Commission (EC) reimposed a non-compete agreement were rejected stances as in the 2013 Commission deci-
a fine of more than €79 million on Telefon- by Europe’s top court. Spain-based Tele- sion,” it stated. Portugal Telecom became
ica and Pharol (formerly Portugal Tele- fonica is again being fined €66.9 million, Pharol in 2015 following an acquisition of
com), after previous penalties relating to with Pharol liable for €12.2 million. The its domestic assets by Altice.

Brunei’s Fixed-Line Telecom Markets Blossom While Mobile Languishes

Brunei Darussalam seemed poised to start This upward trend is set to continue as impact of Covid-19 on the telecoms sec-
its economic recovery from the double the new Unified National Network (UNN) tor, and other recent market developments.
blow it received to its GDP in 2020 from works diligently to expand and enhance Key developments:
the Covid-19 crisis and a global slump in the fixed-line infrastructure around the • Bucking global trends, Brunei increases
oil prices. However, expectations may have country. Strong growth was also seen in fixed-line teledensity and fixed broad-
been dashed by the sudden emergence of the fixed broadband space, on the back of band penetration while dropping back
the Covid-19 Delta variant in the country those same infrastructure developments on mobile and mobile broadband.
in August 2021, which followed months that are part of the Brunei Vision 2035 ini- • The first of five Proof of Concept 5G
of zero cases. Brunei’s mobile market tiative. That being said, fixed broadband projects is unveiled, aiming to increase
had already experienced a sharp drop- penetration is starting from a relatively awareness about the benefits of 5G.
off in subscriber numbers in 2020, which low base by international standards and is • Brunei’s 2G GSM network is shut down,
must have put a serious dent in the overall still only at 18%, leaving lots of room for with the spectrum to be reallocated to
telecom sector’s revenues. A further pro- growth. Mobile and mobile broadband, on 3G, 4G, and potentially 5G use.
longed shutdown to try and regain control the other hand, are still suffering from the • Imagine joins DSTCom and Progresif to
over the Covid-19 situation can only ex- market contractions first felt in 2020. How- become the third operator in Brunei’s
acerbate the challenges for the sector, as ever, penetration rates for both segments mobile market.
it looks ahead to a new start in 2022 with were already extremely high so the decline • The Unified National Network (UNN)
more concerted efforts to build out the may simply be a reflection of those users launches a co-location service at its
fixed-line infrastructure while also pro- with services that were purely discretion- Tier 2 data center.
gressing towards introducing 5G mobile ary rather than being an indicator of any • DST launches two new e-commerce
services. Brunei’s fixed-line market is one broader malaise in the sector. This report solutions: DSTPay and the Zakat Fitrah
of the few countries in the world to have includes the regulator's market data to Online Payment Service.
displayed significant growth rather than a June 2021, Telecom Maturity Index charts
decline in teledensity in the last few years. and analyses, assessment of the global

77 JANUARY 2022