Mobile boss ‘angered’ by alleged price collusion bid
THE boss of one of Britain’s biggest mobile networks said he was left “angry” and in disbelief after rivals made “inappropriate” and anticompetitive approaches to him in the months before Phones 4U collapsed, a court heard.
Olaf Swantee, who was chief executive of EE from 2011 to 2016, told the judge, Mr Justice Roth, that his opposite number at O2, Ronan Dunne, appeared to suggest colluding on pricing when the pair met for lunch in a hotel.
Administrators for the collapsed retailer claim executives at O2, Vodafone and EE secretly plotted to destroy Phones 4U and fatten their own profit margins, by agreeing to abandon the retailer in a co-ordinated fashion.
Giving evidence at London’s High Court, Mr Swantee said the situation triggered alarm bells and made him nervous about breaching competition rules. He said: “It was not OK. I was angry. How is this possible?”
But despite insisting he made clear to Mr Dunne that he was not interested, he admitted he could not remember saying anything to halt the discussion.
Mr Dunne, who went on to be a senior executive at US giant Verizon and is now chairman of Six Nations Rugby, denies impropriety and says he was misunderstood by Mr Swantee.
The conversation is key evidence cited by lawyers for Phones 4U, who say it was just one example of several “nakedly anti-competitive” discussions held by mobile network bosses from 2012 to 2014.
The chain, which had 560 shops, made commission from selling mobile handsets but went bust in September 2014 after Three, O2, Vodafone and EE all pulled products from its shelves.
Lawyers for the mobile networks have branded the collusion claims a “conspiracy theory” and say Phones 4U was “bled dry” by its greedy private equity owner, BC Partners.
As the hearings entered their third week yesterday, Mr Swantee gave evidence about his dealings with rivals in the months and years before Phones 4U’s collapse.
The lunch with Mr Dunne, at the fivestar Landmark Hotel in London, took place in September 2012, as EE was preparing to launch new “4G” (fourth generation) mobile handsets.
This sparked tensions with rivals including O2, which threatened legal action.
Mr Swantee said his main goal during the lunch was to “de-escalate” the situation. He was shocked when Mr Dunne attempted to discuss EE’S pricing strategy for 4G phones, he said.
The trial continues.