Spanish watchdog fines Telefónica for misapplication of faults penalties

Spanish markets regulator the CNMC has imposed a €5 million fine on Telefónica for charging rival operators for faults on wholesale leased lines.

According to the regulator, the telecom operator broke rules governing the supply of wholesale lines – known as the Oferta de Acceso al Bucle de Abonado (OBA) – by levying penalties for faults on them to the tune of €26.12 a line without meeting the requirements that would have allowed it to attribute blame for the faults to the operators leasing the lines.

The regulator said that while categorising faults reported by operators as ‘false’ and levying a penalty subsequently is permitted by the OBA rules, Telefónica failed to meet the stringent requirements that would have allowed it to do this legitimately.

The CNMC said the telco failed to carry out the necessary verification procedures and ruled that between 53.8% and 78.2% of the total number of faults for which penalties were levied were incorrectly categorised.