The Belgian Commercial Court in Antwerp considers prices that do not comply with regulatory pricing obligations to be excessive under Belgian competition law (Base / Belgacom)

Facts of the case 1. In 2007, a dispute arose between Base, one of the three main mobile telephone operators in Belgium, and Belgacom, the Belgian incumbent on the fixed telephone market. In a decision of 11 August 2006, the Institut belge des services postaux et des télécommunications (IBPT ), the Belgian NRA in the telecom sector, obliged Base to charge lower mobile termination rates (MTR) for the call termination services that it offers on its network to other telephone operators. In another decision of 11 August 2006, the IBPT obliged Belgacom to pass these lower MTRs on to its customers [1]. 2. According to Base, Belgacom did not pass on the decreases in Base‘s MTRs, which is an unfair trade practice under the Law on commercial practices and consumer information and protection