“Canadian consumers may have ended up paying higher prices for cellphones and wireless services because of contracts between Apple Inc’s Canadian unit and domestic carriers, a Canadian Competition Bureau official said in a court filing this week,” Randall Palmer and Euan Rocha report for Reuters.
“The affidavit made on Tuesday by the Competition Bureau’s Vincent Millette said the agreements with the phone companies may have discouraged the carriers from reducing the price of other handsets,” Palmer and Rocha report. “Canada’s Competition Bureau had said on Thursday it was investigating allegations that Apple’s Canadian unit used anti-competitive clauses in contracts, but added that no wrongdoing by Apple’s Canadian arm has been found so far.”
“A spokeswoman for Apple Canada declined to comment,” Paul Vieira reports for The Wall Street Journal. “The wireless carriers cited in the court documents weren’t identified by named. But three companies dominate Canada’s wireless sector: Rogers Communications Inc., BCE Inc. and Telus Corp.”
“The documents were filed as part of a motion the Competition Bureau is expected to bring before a Federal Court judge as early as next week to compel Apple Canada to produce documents dating back to 2008 as part of the agency’s probe,” Vieira reports. “The bureau informed Apple Canada of its investigation on April 2, and a preliminary meeting between antitrust officials and Apple executives unfolded roughly a month later.”
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