The Appeals Committee rejects a request to annul a settlement between the Competition Authority and Skipti group
At the end of March 2013 the Icelandic Competition Authority and the Skipti group entered into an overall settlement of the cases the Authority had been investigating. This settlement was a part of the decision of the Competition Authority no. 6/2013. Extensive changes were made by the settlement in the organisation and conduct of the Skipti group and thereby in the structure of the Icelandic telecommunications market in order to promote competition. The settlement means that the competitors of Siminn will have equal access as Siminn itself to the basic telecommunications network of Skipti. This goes beyond what such a separation of a former monopoly in telecommunications generally involves in neighbouring countries. Skipti also agreed to pay 300 m. ISK in administrative fines. A summary of the settlement can be found here.
Nova, which was a party to two cases that were closed by the settlement, appealed to the Appeals Committee and requested that the Competition Authority be ordered to finish proceedings in the cases which Nova was a party to, or, as a last resort, that the settlement would be annulled. Nova considered the Competition Authority not to be authorised to finish the case with a settlement without Nova's approval.
The Appeals Committee rejected these requests by Nova, by a decision published yesterday. Therefore the settlement is still in force.