After requesting information of the agreements that shape the alliance and analyzing it, the Competition technical staff believes that the position of mastery of the companies on his respective markets, which are reinforced by the agreement, they can damage the laws of the competition.

This situation happens so much on the market of the buy of audio-visual contents, as in that of the television of payment, in which Sogecable has of about 52 % of the clients and of 80 % of the income, with his Digital service +, while Phone companhy has concerning 12 % across Imagenio.


Agreements

The alliance between Phone companhy and Sogecable, which chases the share-out of the business of the television of payment, has a double slope.

On one hand, it establishes that Sogecable would turn into the contents buyer for the group Telefónica, what would suppose a strong impulse to this activity of the branch of Hurry.

In addition to be reinforcing on the Spanish market, Sogecable can add the potency negotiator that they grant him the multiple business of television of payment that Phone companhy is developing in Latin America, be already across cable, ADSL or satellite. Probably, there is this part of the agreement the one that more mistrust has caused in the CNC.


Clients' share-out

The second part of the alliance contemplates that Phone companhy would commercialize a bundle of television of specific payment, designed by Sogecable, which would sell across satellite, in the areas in which Phone companhy cannot offer straight Imagenio to his potential clients, since he has not sufficient speed. This bundle is completed by the traditional services of phone and ADSL, offered straight by Phone companhy, and the whole product would commercialize under the mark Trio +.

The agreement between Sogecable and Phone companhy, announced last June, cannot be started before next December, which is when there expire the limitations of five years that the Cabinet had established when he authorized the merger of Satellite channel and Digital Route. Between the requisites, it was prohibited Sogecable and Phone companhy to commercialize jointly contents of Digital Bonus.

The opening of the sanctioning records does not suppose, necessary, that the CNC ends up by imposing a sanction on two groups or the starting of the agreement prevents.


(Expansion, 12/11/07)