The Paris Court of Appeal confirms the Competition Authority’s record fine on three telephony operators for exchanging confidential information and maintaining market shares (Bouygues Télécoms / SFR / Orange France)

Following the Competition Council's decision to initiate proceedings ex officio in 2001 and a complaint lodged by the consumer association UFC Que Choisir in 2002, an investigation revealed the existence of anticompetitive agreements on the French mobile telephony market. In a decision dated 30 November 2005 [1], the Competition Council fined the three operators Orange France, SFR and Bouygues Telecom a total of € 534 million for exchanging strategic information and stabilizing their market shares. The Paris Court of Appeal (“the Court”) has just confirmed this decision. Regarding the procedural grounds put forward by the parties, the Court dismissed them all. Thus, concerning the allegedly breach of investigation secrecy and deliberation secrecy by the competition authority [2], the