OREANDA-NEWS. On 26th November 2012, the Federal Antimonopoly Service will consider a case against “Megafon” OJSC, “Mobile TeleSystems” OJSC and “VympelCom” OJSC upon signs of violating Part 1 Article 10 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition” when the companies rendered services to subscribers of mobile telephone communications network for providing access to information-and-reference and entertainment services of third persons (content providers), reported the press-centre of FAS Russia.

The case was initiated by the Office of the Federal Antimonopoly Service in St Petersburg on numerous petitions from physical persons: monetary funds were debited from mobile telephone accounts when information-and-reference and entertainment services were rendered from short codes of content providers.

At the same time FAS initiated an investigation on the same grounds and requested materials and documents regulating relations between communications services providers and content providers. Analysis of information submitted by communications providers has shown that contracts regulating relations between communications services providers and content providers are in force in more than one constituent territory of the Russian Federation.

According to FAS, the system of access to information-and-reference and entertainment services of third persons (content providers), organized by “Megafon” OJSC, “Mobile TeleSystems” OJSC and “VympelCom” OJSC, can result in violating the antimonopoly law and infringing the interests of other persons (subscribers) because it allows communications service providers to force its subscribers to use services of content providers, in which subscribers are not interested or that they did not order.