Mobile operators face appeal after case claimed collusion in Phones 4U collapse

MOBILE operators are braced for an appeal in a major case alleging collusion linked to the collapse of Phones4u.

Administrators for the defunct high street retailer have been granted permission to appeal after losing a £1bn claim in the High Court last year.

Phones4u alleged that bosses at several mobile phone companies conspired to drive the retailer into administration.

Lawyers for the company argued that executives had held “nakedly anti-competitive” conversations to collude on pricing and strategy.

Phones4u sold hundreds of thousands of handsets to customers before its collapse in 2014. It earned a commission from the operators for these sales.

The claim was brought against O2,

EE, Vodafone, Telefonica, Deutsche Telekom and Orange. In a judgment in November, a High Court judge rejected all claims of breach of competition law, as well as a separate claim against EE for breach of contract. But in a ruling last week, the Court of Appeal found there were grounds to argue the behaviour of some executives did constitute an infringement of competition law.

The case centred on a lunch meeting between Ronan Dunne, who was chief executive of O2 between 2008 and 2016, and Olaf Swantee, then chief executive of EE, in central London in 2012.

According to notes made by EE’S legal team, the O2 boss suggested the mobile operators could offset price discounts by reducing supply through third-party retailers such as Phones 4U. While dismissing any breaches of competition law, the judge concluded that Mr Dunne, now chairman of Six Nations Rugby, had attempted to engage in collusion by discussing pricing strategies.

An O2 spokesman said: “We have always strongly refuted all allegations of collusion or anti-competitive conduct.”

EE said: “The High Court... judgment confirmed that EE’S decision to exit Phones4u was taken independently, based on sound business reasoning.”