Telia is seeking damages from Telenor for losses suffered by mobile operators that Telia later acquired. The case involves two types of abuse of dominance: a margin squeeze in the mobile broadband market (2008–2012) and an unlawful SIMcard fee on Network Norway’s roaming agreement with Telenor (2010–2014). Oslo Economics supported Kvale Advokatfirma, Telia’s legal counsel, with economic analyses relevant to the limitation issue.
In early 2025, the District Court found that none of Telia’s claims were timebarred. Telenor appealed parts of the ruling. In the appeal, the Court of Appeal assessed whether the claims brought by Network Norway and Ventelo relating to the margin squeeze were timebarred.
The Court of Appeal examined whether Ventelo and Network Norway had knowledge of, and could document, that Telenor’s access prices constituted an unlawful margin squeeze at an earlier point in time – i.e., several years before the margin squeeze was documented through the EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) decision in 2020, and finally decided in 2022 by the EFTA Court. To establish a margin squeeze at an earlier point, Network Norway and Ventelo would have had to document that mobile broadband constituted a separate relevant market. This assessment is largely based on economic analysis of substitution on both the demand and supply side.
The core Oslo Economics team consisted of Jostein Skaar, Arne Rogde Gramstad, and Hannah Marøy. We are grateful to Kvale for an excellent collaboration and insightful discussions. Kvale’s core team included Andreas Stang Lund, Sindre Abusland Svendsen, and Kristin Hjelmaas Valla.
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