OREANDA-NEWS. September 30, 2010. The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russai) continued investigating a case against “MTS” OJSC, “VympelCom” OJSC and “MegaPhon” OJSC opened upon the signs of violating Article 10 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition” (abusing market dominance) and Article 11 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition” in terms of fixing monopolistically high prices for mobile telecommunications services using roaming, imposing disadvantageous contract conditions and engaging in concerted actions, reported the press-centre of FAS Russia.

The providers submitted information to FAS Russia necessary to make a decision, including their price offers. FAS has postponed the case in order to analyze received information and obtain additional evidence.

The aggregate share “MTS” OJSC, “VympelCom” OJSC and “MegaPhon” OJSC on the market of cellular communication services in the Russian Federation is around 85%, which exceeds the dominance threshold value.

In June 2010, FAS Russia and the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Protection of Competition (the Antimonopoly Authority) started joint investigation of cellular service providers - “MTS” OJSC, “VympelCom” OJSC, “MegaPhon” OJSC, “GSM Kazakhstan” LLP, “Kazakhtelcom” LLP, “Kar-Tel” LLP and “Mobile Telecom-Service” LLP. The antimonopoly cases are opened in both jurisdictions.

The antimonopoly authorities of the two countries suspect that the companies exercised concerted actions in course of inter-provider operations for roaming services.