29.7.2000EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 217/35

Notice pursuant to Article 19(3) of Council Regulation No 17 (1) concerning Case COMP/36.841 — Unisource

(Review of the Commission Decision of 29 October 1997) (2000/C 217/12)

(Text with EEA relevance)

A. INTRODUCTION which offers services to multinationals in Europe, is now undertaken by Infonet (in which the Unisource trio have a On 23 December 1999 the Commission received an 56 % stake). application for review of the need for the conditions and obli- gations contained in the Commission Decision of 29 October 1997 (2) granting an individual exemption pursuant to Article II. Reduced scope of activities of Unisource: 81(3) of the EC Treaty and Article 53(3) of the EEA Agreement in respect of the creation of Unisource and in respect of the According to the Parties, the only activity that remains of individual restrictions contained in the relevant contractual the Unisource activities described in the Commission’s provisions for that transaction. Decision of 29 October 1997 is the provision of value-added services to multinational 3 The application was submitted by Unisource NV (Unisource) corporate customers ( ). This activity is carried out and its three shareholders, Koninklijke KPN NV (KPN), through the intermedia AUCS vof (formerly Uniworld). AG (Swisscom) and Telia Ab (Telia) (collectively On 29 May 1999, Unisource acquired 100 % of the ‘the Parties’). The request to terminate the obligations and shares of AUCS by taking over AT&T shares. This trans- conditions contained in the Commission’s Decision is based action was declared compatible with the common market on a number of irreversible decisions by Unisource’s share- by Commission Decision of 8 July 1999 in Case IV/M.1581. holders which imply a substantial change of the activities as originally notified in 1995. All the other activities described in the Commission’s 1997 exemption Decision have been abandoned. As a result the B. THE PARTIES only remaining subsidiary owned by Unisource will be AUCS vof. Unisource is a holding company active in the telecommuni- cations sector through its wholly-owned subsidiary AUCS vof (a company incorporated under Dutch law). Unisource is jointly controlled by KPN, Telia and Swisscom. Non-compete provisions As a consequence of the divestitures, all the non-compete KPN, Telia and Swisscom are the telecommunications operators provisions contained in the original agreements have disap- historically established in the , and Swit- peared. There are no non-compete agreements between zerland respectively. AUCS and the parent companies. KPN, Swisscom and Telia can compete with Unisource on the market for corporate telecommunications services or in any other C. FACTS market. The parent companies declare that their interest in Unisource is strictly limited to a financial participation. According to the Parties, market developments over the past years as well as the losses accumulated during those years have forced them to abandon Unisource as the joint venture for III. Presence in the market conducting their international expansion strategy. Consequently, they have taken the irreversible decision to As stated above, the presence of Unisource in the relevant reduce Unisource’s scope to a bare minimum as explained markets described in the Commission’s 1997 Decision is below. reduced in scope to the provision of value-added telecom- munications services by the intermediary AUCS/Infonet. I. Creation of Unisource and related agreements

The decision of the shareholders is to abandon the strategic The competitive situation in the market for the provision of alliance represented by Unisource. They will maintain, global telecommunications services to multinational however, the Unisource agreements until those come to corporate customers was assessed by the Commission in expiry. Unisource will continue to exist as a holding its Decision of 21 February 2000 on Case M.1741 ‘MCI company for the ownership by KPN, Telia and Swisscom WorldCom, Sprint’. According to the information of ‘AUCS Communication Services vof’ (AUCS). available to the Commission, on the basis of 1999 data, Management of the AUCS Communication Services, the market share of AUCS/Infonet in that market would be between 4 % and 11 %. (1) OJ 13, 21.2.1962, p. 204/62. (2) Commission Decision of 29 October 1997 relating to a proceeding (3) Provision of seamless, value-added international voice, data, pursuant to Article 85 of the EC Treaty and Article 53 of the EEA and messaging services to multinational companies operating in Agreement (Case IV/35.830 — Unisource) — OJ L 318, 20.11.1997. Europe. C 217/36EN Official Journal of the European Communities 29.7.2000

Furthermore, the parent companies are to compete in Switzerland (see the Commission’s fifth implementation the provision of such services directly with Unisource. This report on the implementation of the telecommunications is the case, e.g. of KPN, which has set up a joint venture regulatory package (1). (KPN ) that is engaged in the provision of global telecommunications services. Swisscom and Telia also offer such services to their respective customers in direct D. THE COMMISSION’S INTENTIONS competition with Unisource. On the basis of the foregoing, the Commission considers that circumstances have changed substantially from the time when IV. Regulatory safeguards the Commission’s Decision granting Unisource an exemption under Article 81(3) of the Treaty was adopted. Consequently The Parties point out that, in contrast with the regulatory the Commission intends to take a favourable view on the situation when the Commission’s Decision exempting the Parties’ request to review the need for the obligations and creation of Unisource was adopted, full liberalisation of the conditions contained in that Decision. Before doing so, it telecommunications markets in the EU has taken place and invites interested third parties to submit their comments, there exist in each Member State national regulatory auth- within one month of the date of publication of this notice, orities (NRAs) with wide powers to intervene in those quoting the reference COMP/36.841 — Restructuring of markets. Unisource, to the following address: The Commission’s view is that, while it is true that KPN, Telia and Swisscom maintain very high market shares in European Commission almost all domestic telecommunications services markets in Directorate General for Competition their respective home markets, the full liberalisation of tele- Unit C.1 communications is now well implemented in the Office J-70 — 2/271 Netherlands and in Sweden and, in contrast with the Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 200 market situation in 1997, when the Decision was adopted, B-1049 Brussels competition is taking place in those countries as well as in Fax (32-2) 296 70 81.

(1) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions ‘Fifth report on the implementation of the telecommunications regulatory package’, COM(1999) 537 final of 10.11.1999 — (available at http://www.ispo.cec.be).