In a court marathon, which enters a significant phase in the next few weeks, the claim by Primetel from Cyta for alleged losses and loss of income due to monopoly practices, abuse of a dominant position, etc.
Primetel's claims are mainly based on decisions of the Competition Protection Commission (PSC) on the basis of complaints from the private company - Cyta's competitor - for which convictions were issued and significant fines were imposed. It should be noted that Cyta, for its part, has legally challenged these decisions of the PSC, with some having been annulled, in all cases, for procedural reasons and not on the substance of the decisions.
It is recalled that in three cases, by decisions of the Supreme Court and the Administrative Court, group decisions of the PSC were annulled due to the composition of its board, in the first case due to the participation of a member of the Municipal Council, in the second due to irregular appointment of the chairman. and in the third due to the participation of a party executive.
According to data, Primetel has filed a total of ten lawsuits against Cyta since 2005, of which one case involved an ex-officio PSC investigation. Of the seven, the PSC has reached a conviction against Cyta, while for three others the decision is pending. In total, the PSC in the seven lawsuits of Primetel against Cyta has imposed administrative fines of € 8,1 million on the semi-governmental organization.
In the following days and weeks, the trial of the first lawsuits for damages enters a substantial phase, a fact that creates not only legal but also wider interest, since it is in the field of internet, mobile telephony services such as sms, etc. At the same time, the total amount of compensation requested, which far exceeds € 50 million, is also of interest.
The oldest of Primetel v Cyta's complaints was lodged with the PSC almost 13 years ago, in April 2004. It allegedly involved the abuse of CYTA 's dominant position in providing the necessary infrastructure and services to provide written messages of value to the consumer public from independent providers. No decision had been issued until 2007, when the composition of the PSC was deemed illegal by the Supreme Court, so all cases were considered from the beginning. The decision was finally issued in 2012 and it was judged that Cyta followed abusive practices. The semi-governmental organization appealed to the Supreme Court, which rejected the appeal, but then the decisions of the PSC were annulled for the second time - the appointment of its president was deemed illegal.
The complaint was examined for the third time and the PSC issued a conviction imposing a fine of € 130.000. Primetel has filed a lawsuit in this case, claiming more than € 600.000 in damages.
This was followed by a second similar complaint by Primetel against Cyta in 2005 for non-provision of value-added text messaging services to alternative providers. For which the PSC also ruled that the practices of the semi-governmental organization were not lawful, imposing a fine of € 960.000. Cyta filed an appeal that was rejected by the Supreme Court in 2015 and later appealed the decision of the Supreme Court for which a decision is pending. Primetel filed a lawsuit claiming as general and special damages from Cyta an amount in excess of € 1,7 million. The lawsuit is also pending.
The compensation claimed by Primetel amounts to € 8 million in another case concerning the capacity of the MINERVA cable system, where the PSC, after a complaint from Primetel, ruled that Cyta imposed unfair and excessively high prices. In this case, the PSC imposed various fines on Cyta totaling € 1.016.425, with the semi-governmental organization also appealing for the annulment of the PSC decision by the Administrative Court.
In another lawsuit filed by Primetel against Cyta, which is also scheduled for next week in Court, the amount of the claimed claims exceeds € 2 million. capacity in the SMW-3 submarine cable system connecting Cyprus with London. The PSC acquitted Primetel and fined Cyta € 295.277. An appeal to the Administrative Court is also pending against this decision of the PSC.
Claim € 34 million for miVision and i-choice
Two new complaints from Primetel against Cyta concerned i-choice and miVision. The first was submitted in 2005 for which the PSC again considered that there were unfair practices and in its decision in 2012 imposed an administrative fine of € 2.150.680 on the semi-governmental organization, while a second complaint is pending on the same issue for the period 2009-2013.
For the first PSC decision and the penalty, Cyta appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court, by decision of 22 December 2016, ratified the decision of the PSC for "robbery pricing" in relation to miVision and the binding of miVision and i-choice for the period from 2004 to 2008, and the total fine of € 1.720.544 of the € 2.150.680 that had been imposed. At the same time, it canceled € 430.136 out of the total of € 2.150.680 in relation to the violation for the i-choice service for the period from 2004 to 2006.
Primetel, based on the decision of the PSC, in 2008 filed a lawsuit against CYTA, claiming damages in excess of € 34 million. The lawsuit is being considered by the Court and its hearing is scheduled for next week.
Another more recent - in 2012 - complaint of Primetel against Cyta in the PSC concerned the Exclusivity Agreement between Cyta and Multichoice regarding the distribution of the television content of the satellite platform NOVA Cyprus through Cytavision. For this case, the PSC has already conducted an ex-officio investigation by imposing on CYTA a fine of € 2.900.000.
The last complaint of Primetel v Cyta to the PSC was lodged in 2014 with the alleged imposition of unfair retail prices on Cytavision and the bundled Internet Home and Cytavision services with a view to eliminating competition for the period 2009-2013. The complaint is examined by the PSC.
It should be noted that the examination of Primetel's complaint to the PSC against Cyta and Lumiere TV for allegedly exploiting a dominant position held by Cyta and the dominant position held by LTV at the time of the complaint, in the content market high level. The complaint refers to Cytavision and LTV agreements.
CYTA: We will not pay a single cent
It is reported that recently, during the examination of Primetel's lawsuits against Cyta for damages, there was talk of an out-of-court settlement in some of them. Officially, the legal advisers of the semi-governmental organization consider the claims unfounded.
Specifically, the Audit Office raised a question as to the legal claims for damages in excess of € 50 million in the Primetel series of lawsuits and in relation to whether they should be included in the financial statements of the semi-governmental organization. Cyta's legal advisers replied to the Auditor General that the lawsuits were "unfounded" and that "there is sufficient defense against any claim sought". So they do not expect the semi-governmental organization to be called upon to pay any compensation.
Source: Liberal