Regulación sectorial y derecho de la competencia: compresión de márgenes en el mercado de telecomunicaciones (STJUE 14 de octubre 2010, Deutsche Telekom)

Resumo

The ECJ, by upholding the General Court's judgment and the Commission's finding of a margin squeeze abuse by Deutsche Telekom, for the first time recognizes the validity of a margin squeeze claim as a stand-alone abuse of dominant position under Article 102 a) TFEU. It further recognizes that national sector-specific regulation does not prevent the attribution of an abuse, and endorses the application of an "equally efficient competitor"; test, while arguably leaving the door open for an adjusted test that takes account of the objectively different situation of competitors. It is at odds with the rule in other jurisdictions; for example, the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled in Pacific Bell v. linkLine that a margin squeeze claim may not be brought under U.S. monopolization law, in the absence of an independent antitrust duty to deal.