In late 2019, the Competition Appeal Tribunal upheld a decision by Ofcom finding Royal Mail to have abused its dominant position and imposing a fine of £50 million. The case stemmed from a complaint by Whistl UK Ltd (Whistl) about changes Royal Mail made to its wholesale customers’ contracts in early 2014, including price increases.
This webinar, recorded 10 November 2020, provided by OfCom, delivered an overview of the original case and the subsequent appeal from the regulator’s perspective, exploring:
- why Royal Mail’s conduct amounted to an abuse of dominance
- the use of economic evidence in abuse cases.
Key learnings
By watching this webinar you will gain:
- an understanding of Ofcom’s approach to Chapter II prohibition cases – the law and procedure
- insight into sectoral regulation in the UK
Speakers
David Matthews, Ofcom
David Matthew is Director of Economics at Ofcom (since 2012), specialising in competition cases and regulation in telecoms and post. He is currently leading the economics in Ofcom’s wholesale fixed telecoms market review. He has given expert testimony on competition and regulation cases on several occasions at the Competition Appeal Tribunal and in other court proceedings.
Prior to joining Ofcom, he worked at the Office of Fair Trading (one of the precursors to the Competition and Markets Authority), was chief economist at the Civil Aviation Authority (1999-2003) and was Associate Director at NERA Economic Consulting (2003-2012). David Matthew holds an MPhil in Economics from Oxford University.
