Telco fined £3m for “attempting to illegally control” mobile networks

Thursday 21 July 2022

Sure and JT have been fined around £3m and £440,000 by Guernsey's competition watchdog respectively for working together in a way that broke the law.

But Sure has labelled the investigation and its findings as “completely flawed from the outset,” and says it'll appeal the penalty through the Royal Court.

A Guernsey Competition and Regulatory Authority (GCRA) investigation claims that between August 2018 and November 2019, “JT and Sure privately developed a joint plan without disclosing it to the Authority or the States that would mutually benefit each in their homes markets”.

This related to the removal of JT’s network infrastructure from Guernsey, in exchange for Sure removing their infrastructure from Jersey.

It also claimed that information was repeatedly exchanged over their commercial strategies for introducing future mobile networks, such as 5G, “at a slower pace than thought by the States… and on a common ‘line to take’ that they were working to achieve the objective… in line with, or ahead of, the UK”.

The GCRA added that the companies did this whilst privately agreeing “not to do so”, which therefore did not align with their public intentions to government.

Sure has also been alleged to have suppressed key evidence, provided “contradictory and misleading accounts”, and “providing materially untruthful answers” to the regulator throughout the investigation.

Pictured: The telecommunication providers have been accused of colluding to deliver future mobile network provisions at a slower speed than they had promised to the States of Guernsey, according to the GCRA.

The GCRA says the company's behaviour has harmed competition locally and, as a result, Guernsey consumers.

Penalties are calculated as a percentage of turnover, factoring in the timeframe of the offending practices. The GCRA used a rate of 12% which it says is low-range for serious infringements.

It found that whilst both companies had taken steps to prevent reoccurrence of the conduct, JT’s measure were more “comprehensive and wide-ranging” than Sure’s. The GCRA therefore reduced JT’s fine by 10%, offering only a 5% reduction to Sure.

Pictured: The breakdown of the fines issued to the companies.

Sure Group CEO Alistair Beak has rejected the claims, saying: “We are steadfast in our belief that we have done nothing wrong; at all times Sure has acted in accordance with the spirit and letter of the law.”

Mr Beak called the GCRA’s allegations “baseless” and implied that the regulator has an axe to grind with the company.

“Yet again, with this latest penalty process, we find ourselves facing a regulator which seems determined to find against us, in the face of clear and compelling evidence that there has been no wrongdoing,” he said.

 “We will also continue to stand by the members of the Sure team who have acted with integrity and professionalism throughout this process, despite the spurious claims made against them by the GCRA, which are equally fundamentally wrong.”

He added that whilst the disparity in the sum of the fines issued does reflect the current market share of the companies, that the total is “extraordinary” and “genuinely astonishing”.

“We would much rather be spending our time and resources delivering the best possible service to customers and continuing our investment in the Guernsey economy through our fibre broadband project.”

The GCRA maintain that “at a senior level JT and Sure were aware that their behaviour was likely to raise concerns".

You can read the GCRA's decision in full HERE.