France Telecom wins court case
A Paris court has ordered a small firm that alleged it was forced into bankruptcy by the telecoms giant to pay damages
A SMALL telecoms firm has lost a legal battle against France Telecom after claiming the firm pushed it to bankruptcy.
Subiteo had sued France Telecom for €86 million, claiming its delays in processing its application to offer broadband had resulted in it failing in its bid to enter the broadband internet provider market.
The problems date back to 2001, when France Telecom was the only operator with a broadband network and any competitors had to go via it to offer a service.
However the Paris Commercial Court has thrown out Subiteo’s case and ordered it to pay €1,000 in damages to France Télécom, as well as €20,000 legal costs.
It is thought the matter will affect other cases concerned with similar accusations. Numéricable is suing for €157 million, Complétel €490 million and Cambio €7 million.
The decision comes on top of another good court result for France Télécom last week, when the Paris Appeal Court ordered the Competition Authority to hand back a €18 million fine applied to the firm owing to alleged tariff abuses dating back to 1999. The court said the body had not proved its case.
