The Cypriot Competition Authority fines the incumbent telecom provider € 38,000 for refusing to provide access to its SMS centre (CYTA / Golden Telemedia)

On December 19th, 2006 the Cyprus Commission for the Protection of Competition (C.P.C.) found the Cyprus Telecom Authority (CYTA), the incumbent telecom provider, liable for abusing its monopoly position in the upstream market for provision of access facilities necessary for value-added service providers (“VASP”) to enter the market for the retail provision of premium SMS messages. The C.P.C. imposed a fine of CYP 22,000 (approximately €38,000) for infringement of Section 6(1) and (2) (b) of the Law for the Protection of Competition (Law 207 of 1989). Section 6 of the Law is the national equivalent of article 82 EC Treaty. Parties involvedThe plaintiff: Golden Telemedia Golden Telemedia Ltd , established in 1993, is active in the Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) industry, offering,