The European Union’s ombudsman has opened an investigation into claims by British mobile phone company O2 that the European Commission denied it its rights of defense in an ongoing investigation into roaming charges, the ombudsman said Monday.“The aim of the inquiry is to determine if there has been maladministration by the Commission,” said Nikiforos Diamandouros, the ombudsman for the European Union’s institutions, in a statement. He has asked the commission to respond to the company’s allegations by Dec. 31.The commission has been investigating three of Europe’s biggest mobile phone companies, including O2, for more than seven years. It issued formal antitrust charges against Vodafone and O2 in July 2004, and against Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone in February 2005. The groups were accused of abusing their dominant market position by demanding “unfair and excessive” roaming charges, the fees for making and receiving mobile phone calls abroad. In its complaint to the ombudsman, O2 accused the commission of failing to provide proper access to files and information, as well as failing to allow a reasonable time for responding to allegations. Further complaints include the infringement of O2’s right to a supplementary statement of objections and of the right to be heard properly, Diamandouros said.The commission believes it has conducted the roaming investigation correctly. “We don’t think O2’s complaint is well founded,” Jonathan Todd, the commission’s spokesman on competition matters, said Monday. “We scrupulously respected the company’s right of defense,” he added. The ombudsman cannot overturn a commission decision, but his rulings carry political weight. A ruling against the commission while its probe of roaming charges continues would be embarrassing for Europe’s top competition watchdog. It could also help prompt O2 to lodge a formal appeal against the commission at the European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg.O2 representatives weren’t immediately available to comment, but last month when the company submitted its complaint to the ombudsman, it said it had become “increasingly exasperated with the Commission’s conduct of the case and its disregard for due process and O2’s procedural rights.”-Paul Meller, IDG News Service (Brussels Bureau)Related Link: Vodafone to Sell 1st Self-Branded PhoneCheck out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content case study How IT leaders use EV tech to fuel the transport revolution in Kenya Many African nations are starting to invest in electric vehicle (EV) transportation as a means to broaden access and help keep pace with global environmental initiatives. In Kenya, strides are being made despite industry and tech leaders grappling to By Vincent Matinde May 31, 2023 5 mins CIO CTO Emerging Technology feature How CIOs distill the most sought-after data skills From back-end engineers to data scientists and line-of-business experts, here’s the in-demand talent that all organizations need to turn a glut of information into game-changing insight. By Mark Samuels May 31, 2023 8 mins IT Skills Data Center IT Leadership interview Broadcom’s Andy Nallappan on what cloud success really looks like The CTO, CSO, and head of software engineering and operations knows firsthand that a successful move to the cloud is all about changing the culture and replacing on-prem’s sunk cost mentality with incentivized FinOps. By Martha Heller May 31, 2023 8 mins Technology Industry IT Strategy Cloud Computing feature Key IT initiatives reshape the CIO agenda While cloud, cybersecurity, and analytics remain top of mind for IT leaders, a shift toward delivering business value is altering how CIOs approach key priorities, pushing transformative projects to the next phase. By Mary Pratt May 30, 2023 10 mins IT Strategy IT Leadership Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe