European ISP accused of stealing clients
Associated Press
BRUSSELS, Belgium — European competitors of telecommunications operator Belgacom SA accused the Belgian company yesterday of stealing customers for high-speed Internet access. Belgacom denied it.
Three Internet service providers, France Telecom's Wanadoo, Italy's Tiscali-World Online and the Dutch Royal KPN's Planet Internet filed a joint complaint in a commercial court in Brussels against Belgacom.
A hearing is expected Wednesday, said Carlos van Nunen, legal adviser to Planet Internet.
The providers claim Belgacom is abusing its dominant position in the Belgian market as its role as key network operator for high-speed Internet services. As a result, they claim Belgacom is taking away potential clients.
Belgacom spokesman Piet Van Speybroeck said the charges against the company were "absolutely not true," and denied any anticompetitive behavior.
"We believe firmly that our internal procedures are within the law of what we're requested to do and if there are any isolated cases, and these would be isolated, we're willing to discuss that," Van Speybroeck said.
Yesterday's court action follows a complaint made against Belgacom this year to the Belgian Institute of Postal Services and Telecommunications, alleging anticompetitive behavior
The three Internet providers are strong competitors with Belgacom in the high-speed Internet services market.
Wanadoo alleges Belgacom's provider unit, Skynet, told a potential Wanadoo client it couldn't offer the Wanadoo service for technical reasons and instead offered its own service.
"Belgacom is using the information they receive in their network role to play dirty tricks," said Vincent Grivet, director general at Wanadoo Belgium.
Belgacom's competitors also claim it is using private customer information it collects from bills on Internet use to offer Skynet service. "They use this information to get customers in a market that should be liberalized. This situation has given them a head start that we could never have had," van Nunen said.
