The National Telecommunications Regulation Agency (ANRT) has imposed a fine of 3.3 billion dirhams on telecom company Itissalat Al-Maghrib (IAM) for «behavior constituting abuse of a dominant position». In a press release, the ANRT said that it has ruled on the referral filed against IAM for «anti-competitive practices» concerning the implementation of unbundling, stressing that after deliberations, these behaviors were deemed as «constituting abuse of a dominant position, prohibited by provisions of article 7 of law n° 104-12, liable to a financial penalty, the amount of which is fixed at three billion three hundred million dirhams, entirely paid to the Treasury». This decision, taken by the ANRT Management Committee, follows the investigation of the referral file in accordance with the provisions of Law No. 104-12 on free pricing and competition, it said, noting that the investigation has been under way since May 2017 and that the two parties (IAM and WANA) were able to provide their observations, mainly on the report by the investigation services. After an in-depth examination of the various elements of the file, the ANRT «concluded that there had been, since 2013, several acts attributed to IAM, which had the effect of preventing and delaying the access of competitors to unbundling and landline market», according to the same source. The Agency has taken several other measures (injunctions with daily penalty in the event of non-compliance) to be implemented by IAM, the objective being to remedy the behavior and to allow the development of competition in the segment of the fixed broadband (voice and Internet), so as as to be more beneficial to consumers and businesses like the mobile, concluded the press release.
