The investigation, which began just over two years ago, raised important issues about the pricing of technology that is adopted as part of an industry standard.
The Commission said that although it is keen to avoid abuse in such cases – where there is in effect no choice but for manufacturers to use the technology and pay the royalities – the assessments of a possible abuse is very complex. “Any antitrust enforcer has to be careful about overturning commercial agreements,” the Commission statement said.
All the telecoms companies that had registered complaints about overcharging have now withdrawn, or indicated their intention to withdraw their complaints. The Commission said it has therefore decided to focus its resources and priorities elsewhere.
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