23 December 2020, Budapest – The Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) established that DIGI had launched its mobile telephone service with misleading campaigns, which falsely promised unlimited mobile internet access, among others.
The competition supervision proceeding of the GVH, which was concluded on 21 December 2020, established that the “Test with us” and “Try it” campaigns of DIGI Távközlési és Szolgáltató Kft. (DIGI), launched in 2019 and 2020 respectively to introduce the DIGI Mobile services of the undertaking, included unfair commercial practices. The investigation found that although the promotional materials of the undertaking (including billboards and television advertisements) emphasised the availability of unlimited mobile internet, the contracts contained the possibility of restricting and slowing the network traffic included in the service.
The fact that certain advertisements of the campaign suggested that the new service was available to all consumers was also found to be misleading. The offer was actually only open to customers living within the coverage area and already subscribed to DIGI/INVITEL services, which means an overall smaller group of consumers.
The campaigns of the telecommunications undertaking also infringed the law in the earlier period by failing to mention that due to the undertaking not possessing the necessary partnership agreements, the option for using the service abroad (roaming) was not available to the users. This is an important feature in the case of a mobile telephone service, which can influence the decision of the consumers.
The GVH imposed a fine of HUF 45 million for the infringement. When determining the amount of the fine, the GVH took into account the fact that the undertaking had ceased the infringement on its own initiative before the initiation of the competition supervision proceeding (made roaming available and removed the network traffic restriction).
The official registration number of the case is: VJ/30/2019.
GVH Press Office