The Swiss Competition Commission (Comco) has rejected a request from a group of cable television operators for provisional measures against telecommunications company Swisscom, which is accused of having established a monopoly by strengthening its position in the sports-rights market.
The cable television operators in May filed a complaint to Comco to request access to the sports rights held by Swisscom.
However, the regulator has rejected the request ruling that these requirements were too severe and would damage the Swiss sports rights market.
Swisscom said in a statement: “Swisscom welcomes this decision and, in the interests of millions of Swiss television consumers, will continue to broadcast its widely expanded range of live sporting events in the same unchanged format. Swisscom rejects the allegation made by cable providers that it is unlawfully expanding the range of live sports broadcasts in Switzerland. It is more a case of the cable providers failing to actively promote or expand their own live transmissions of sporting events despite having been involved in television business for over a decade.”
The ruling comes after Comco in April launched an investigation into possible anti-trust violations by Swisscom and media group Cinetrade.
A preliminary investigation revealed evidence of possible violations by Swisscom and Cinetrade's pay-television service, Teleclub, with regard to live sports coverage.
A full investigation, which is yet to be concluded, will focus on whether Cinetrade has discriminated against rivals of Swisscom, which carries Teleclub, by failing to offer other operators the same carriage terms. Swisscom holds a 49%stake in Cinetrade.