THE COMPETITION COUNCIL WILL NOT INITIATE AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE ACTIONS OF GO3 BALTICS

The Competition Council has decided not to initiate an investigation into the actions of the company Go3 Baltics, as it would not align with the institution's priority to conduct investigations that significantly contribute to the protection of effective competition, thus ensuring the highest possible consumer welfare.

The Competition Council was approached by the Lithuanian Cable Television Association, the Lithuanian Internet Service Providers Association, the Internet Services Provider Association, and the companies Balticum TV and Consilium optimum, requesting an investigation into whether the actions of the Estonia-registered company Go3 Baltics violated the Competition Law and the provisions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which prohibit the abuse of a dominant position.

The applicants complained about unacceptable conditions in the new contracts with Go3 Baltics, which, for example, grant the right to distribute Go3 programme packages only after integrating the Go3 platform into retransmission systems. Additionally, all their customers are required to connect via the Go3 platform or app, which is not acceptable to some consumers, leading them to abandon the services of retransmission providers. Through these and other actions, the Estonian company is allegedly attempting to push competitors out of the market.

The Competition Council, after evaluating the received and additionally gathered information, concluded that the number of users of the Go3 programme packages constitutes a relatively small portion of the applicants' customer base. Therefore, there is no reason to believe that the actions complained are harmful to a larger group of consumers or that they significantly restrict the ability of other undertakings to operate on the market. The suspicions raised by the mentioned associations and companies regarding potential competition restrictions were mostly based on opinions and assumptions rather than objective evidence. In the Authority’s assessment, a more detailed examination of the accuracy and validity of the applicants' claims, as well as the factual circumstances, would require disproportionate resources from the institution compared to the likely outcomes of the investigation.

Taking into account these circumstances, the Competition Council has decided not to open an investigation into the possible abuse of dominant position by Go3 Baltics as it would not be in line with the principles of the impact on effective competition and consumer welfare and rational use of resources.

The decision of the Competition Council can be appealed to the Regional Administrative Court within one month from the day it is delivered or published on the institution's website.