Telecommunications company Telefónica has vowed to appeal after being ordered by Spain’s competitions regulator, the CNMC, to compensate rivals Telecable, Total Channel and Vodafone for apparent discrepancies in the amounts they paid for wholesale distribution of football channels.
However, the CNMC said that Telefónica can claim back money from Open Cable and Orange, which were charged less than the minimum guaranteed fee.
The distribution fees investigation relates to Telefónica’s Canal Plus Liga and Canal Plus Partizado channels in the 2015-16 season.
The CNMC said that it had issued its order as part of an ongoing monitoring process to ensure that Telefónica is satisfying the terms of its acquisition of pay-television platform DTS in 2015. One of the conditions of the takeover being approved was that Telefónica must provide a wholesale offering of its channels to rival platforms.
Telefónica has said that the CNMC’s calculations are incorrect and added that it would appeal to the national court after seeking an immediate injunction.