Action brought on 18 November 2020 — Iliad Italia v Commission

(Case T-692/20)

(2021/C 19/76)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Applicant: Iliad Italia SpA (Milan, Italy) (represented by: D. Fosselard and D. Waelbroeck, lawyers)

Defendant: European Commission

Form of order sought

The applicant claims that the Court should:

—	annul Commission decision C(2020) 1573 final of 6 March 2020 not to oppose the notified operation in Case M.9674-Vodafone Italia / TIM / INWIT JV as modified by the commitments and to declare it compatible with the internal market and with the functioning of the EEA Agreement;

—	order the Commission to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

In support of the action, the applicant relies on four pleas in law.

1.	First plea in law, alleging that the commitments provide no clear definition or quantification of the minimum level of power required to satisfy the obligation to provide sufficient Free Space, which is a central pillar to the effectiveness of the commitments.

Second plea in law, alleging that the commitments fail to explicitly and clearly require the right for a new entrant to obtain, from the outset of the implementation of the commitments, hosting services covering the 700 MHz band, which is essential for the effective operation of a competing mobile network.

Third plea in law, alleging that the commitments do not expressly and clearly prohibit the parties from choosing inappropriate sites in discharging their obligation to provide access to new entrants, and the commitments provide no protection against the parties exercising bias in selecting which sites to provide access to.

4.	Fourth plea in law, alleging that the commitments provide for an insufficient and unclear procedure for arranging access to relevant sites, resulting in new entrants being unable to make effective use of the sites offered under the commitments.