Mobile phone firms KPN, T-Mobile and Vodafone did make cartel agreement to exchange information in 2001, the Dutch competition body NMa said on Thursday.

The NMa has restated its position after the three phone firms began a legal battle against the claim and the European Court was asked for its advice.
The court said that mobile phone firms may not swap any information about dealer discounts and payments – even if that happens only once, NMa chairman Chris Fonteijn said in a statement.
The fines facing the three firms have now been reduced, partly due to the length of time the legal process has taken. KPN must pay €7.9m, T-Mobile nearly €4.6m and Vodafone €3.7m.