European regulators raided the offices of Vodafone and eight other mobile phone operators Wednesday and combed through documents they believed would offer evidence that these companies have set artificially high prices for some services.
The coordinated, surprise inspections cap a 17-month inquiry into roaming prices -- the fees that mobile operators collect for transferring customers to other networks and are the latest example yet of the growing prowess of European regulators, led by the competition commissioner, Mario Monti.
In the last year alone, Monti has presided over investigations into allegations that banks were fixing the euro exchange rate and that music companies colluded in setting prices for compact discs. In perhaps his most audacious move so far, Monti last week thwarted General Electric's attempts to acquire Honeywell International, marking the first time that a European regulator blocked a combination of two American companies. Monti's decision was all the more unusual because it contrasted with antitrust officials in the US, who had approved the deal.
"Mr Monti has shown that he is determined to apply the rules, despite the political sensitivity of a situation, or the amount of lobbying against him," said Guy Lougher, an antitrust lawyer with Wragge & Co, in Birmingham, England.
The raids carried out Wednesday are one of the most powerful investigative tools of European regulators. In the US, officials must first submit to lengthy court hearings before companies are required to turn over confidential information, antitrust lawyers said.
For European mobile phone companies, the timing of Monti's attentions could not be worse. Many are struggling to pay down debt after spending a collective US$100 billion on government-sponsored auctions for new radio spectrums. And they are faced with another US$100 billion bill to develop the networks and services that will run on those new frequencies.
A Vodafone spokesman confirmed that antitrust officials had visited its offices Wednesday, and that the company was fully cooperating with their investigation.
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