Vodafone suing Dutch rival KPN for 'abuse of power'

British mobile phone giant Vodafone said today it is suing rival KPN for 115 million euros (USD 126 million), accusing its Dutch competitor of seeking to lock it out of the local market.
"KPN delayed by three years the nationwide introduction of Vodafone's competing TV, fixed-line broadband and fixed-line telephone proposition, Vodafone Thuis, by failing repeatedly to meet its commitments to deliver the technology needed," Vodafone said in a statement.
Such practises amounted to "anti-competitive behaviour in the Dutch convergent communications market to the detriment of competition and consumer choice."
The complaint has been lodged with a court in The Hague, and Dutch media said a court summons should be received by KPN later today.

According to Vodafone, the 115 million euros amounts to compensation and interest for revenue lost between 2011 to 2014 as it sought to launch its own "all-in-one" package for Dutch customers.
KPN owns and operates the Netherlands' only nationwide telephone network, using copper lines, in the country of 17 million people, as well as the largest fibre-optic network, Vodafone said.

"Other operators without the benefits of this nationwide fixed-line infrastructure must rely on KPN's network in order to compete," Vodafone said.
It alleged the delays meant it could not compete effectively on the Dutch market until 2014.
Dutch media reported that despite a contract signed in 2011, KPN had repeatedly delayed Vodafone's service "at least six times" each time for several months.

Vodafone Netherlands therefore missed out at a key moment when some 100,000 Dutch clients a quarter were signing up to "all-in-one" packages combining phone, Internet and television deals, the British firm said.
This "qualifies as abuse of a dominant market position," added Vodafone, recalling it has launched similar legal moves in other European countries notably the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
KPN spokesman Stijn Wisselink told AFP however that "KPN does not recognise the situation described by Vodafone."
The British player -- the world's second largest operator -- has only conquered a small part of the Dutch market with some 73,000 customers, according to the financial daily Het Financieele Dagblad.

Sood said Vodafone's 4G service in Mumbai is built on a
strong fibre backhaul of 100G and is supported by its 3G service on a new and modern network.
On the issue of pricing of 700 MHz spectrum, crucial for 4G services, Sood said, "It is atrociously priced. We are very unhappy with the Trai pricing and we don't think we can afford the radio waves at the current level of pricing."
Telecom regulator Trai has fixed the base price for 700 MHz spectrum at over Rs 11,000 crore for the next round of spectrum auctions.
On spectrum trading/sharing, he said the company needs spectrum and will adopt all means to get it, but did not elaborate.

When asked to comment on Trai's decision of not allowing differential pricing for internet access, he said Vodafone supports net neutrality.
"We believe in a strong, independent and neutral net. We are also for net equality wherein no operator is allowed to charge more for offering the same kind of service," Sood said.
On call drops, he said since last April the company has installed 1,200 more towers across the country and blamed "Juhi Chawlas of the country" for their hyper-active campaign against the alleged harmful effects of mobile towers, which is preventing telecom providers from serving the people better.

For instance, he said Vodafone does not cover the tony Malabar Hill area of south Mumbai thanks to the orchestrated campaign by the film actress and a handful of others.
In the Lutyens Bungalow Zone of Delhi it is handicapped as there are no high-rises, he said.
But he was quick to add that the government has now identified some special locations for installing the telecom masts.