Cleary Gottlieb successfully represented Telecom Italia S.p.A., Italy’s largest phone operator, against an antitrust claim filed by Telvia, an internet services provider, before the Court of Appeals of Catania. Telvia sought an interim decision ordering Telecom to modify its high-velocity broadband internet services wholesale offer or, alternatively, to cease offering internet television services.
According to Telvia, Telecom was irreparably damaging competition in the broadband internet market by offering its 20 Mbps broadband internet services to customers under conditions different from those authorized by the Italian Communications Authority and, particularly, by bundling them with internet television services at prices competitors could not match.
The Court of Catania dismissed Telvia’s action, finding that the Italian communications authority had already monitored Telecom’s offers and that Telvia’s competitive analysis was not persuasive. This was Cleary Gottlieb’s second win for Telecom in less than two months against applications to civil courts for interim reliefbased on the antitrust laws.