BEREC Opinion on Phase II investigation pursuant to Article 32 of Directive (EU) 2018/1972 - Case CZ/2022/2421 Wholesale access and call origination on public mobile telephone networks in the Czech Republic

On 29 December 2022, the Commission registered a notification from the Czech national regulatory authority (NRA), Český telekomunikační úřad (CTU), concerning the wholesale market for access to mobile services in the Czech Republic.

In its draft measure, CTU proposes to designate O2 Czech Republic, T-Mobile Czech Republic and Vodafone Czech Republic as having significant market power (SMP) in the relevant market and proposes the imposition of a range of regulatory remedies on T-Mobile, O2 and Vodafone including (i) transparency; (ii) non-discrimination; (iii) accounting separation; (iv) access; (v) price control and cost accounting.

On 30 January 2023, the Commission sent a serious doubts letter opening a phase II investigation pursuant to Article 32 of Directive (EU) 2018/1972. The Commission’s serious doubts concern CTU’s proposed SMP assessment and that the draft measure would create a barrier to the internal market or its serious doubts as to its compatibility with Union law.

Based on the analysis set out in this Opinion, BEREC considers that the Commission’s serious doubts are justified, namely with regard to application of the three criteria test and the assessment of Joint-SMP.