ANSA report that the Italian Antitrust Authority will fine TIM and DAZN following an investigation into the agreement between the two. According to the report, the agreement, which provided for exclusivity in favor of TIM and the exclusion of partnerships with its competitors in the telecommunications sector, could lead to “harmful effects on the ongoing competitive dynamics in the Tlc sector in the markets for connectivity services and the retail sale of pay TV services.”
Under the agreement, TIM marketed a bundled offer that could not be replicated by its competitors, which included TimVision and DAZN content and a connectivity service. It was, moreover, an offer likely to deprive TIM’s competitors, active in the electronic communications markets, of the possibility of associating its connectivity services with particularly valuable content, such as the rights to watch the Serie A championship matches for the three-year period 2021-2024, limiting its ability to exert competitive pressure on Tim itself.
The effects of the agreement, with particular reference to those arising from exclusivity, lasted about a month, as they were neutralized by the Authority’s timely initiation of the preliminary investigation procedure on July 6, 2021.
TIM will be fined €760,776.82 while DAZN incur a fine of €7,240,250.84.
