By Alípio Codinha, Mariana Costa, Marta Ribeiro & Pedro Marques –
This article explores part of the competitive assessment performed by the Portuguese Competition Authority on the proposed merger between MEO, a telecoms firm, and GMC, a media & contents company operating in Portugal. We used the same analytical roadmap of the Comcast/NBCU and Liberty Global/Corelio/W&W/De Vijver Media transactions to assess anticompetitive impacts from possible input foreclosure strategies, but used a consumer survey to quantify more precisely subscriber switching and departure rates. The results of the survey were critical to conclude that, post-merger, GMC would have an increased ability and incentive to engage in input foreclosure strategies which would result in significant hampering of competitive pressures in the provision of retail pay-TV services in Portugal.
