The Commission has published a decision declaring it has no grounds for action under Article 81(1) of the Treaty in respect of agreements relating to the restructuring of Cegetel, including ancillary provisions regarding: (1) the general restriction on competition contained in the Shareholders’ Agreement under some conditions; and (2) the preferred- supplier and preferred-customer provisions. Through the agreements, Compagnie Général des Eaux SA (CGE), British Telecommunications plc (BT), Mannesman AG and SBC International Inc (SBCI) agreed on their respective contributions, interests and commercial relationship in connection with Cegetal (Compagnie Général de Telecommunication).
The purpose of the restructuring is to enable Cegetel to become the second full service telecommunications operator in France, by offering a full range of telecommunications services. Moreover, the Commission exempted the arrangements for the exclusive distribution of Concert services by Cegetel in France. The relevant product market was defined as all segments of the French telecommunications market, both for fixed services and mobile services. For the former, the geographical market is national in scope, while for the latter market, the Commission left open the relevant geographic markets. (OJ L218 18.08.99)
