EU court dismisses France Telecom fine appeal

France Telecom kept rivals out of the high-speed Internet market with artificially low prices, the European Union's highest court ruled on Thursday, upholding a 2003 European Commission decision. The European Court of Justice also upheld a lower court's decision to dismiss France Telecom's appeal against a 10.35 million euro ($13.7 million) fine imposed by the EU's executive Commission for abuse of a dominant market position. The Commission, the European Union's top antitrust regulator, had accused France Telecom's Wanadoo unit of charging consumers rates for high-speed network access during 2001-2002 that did not cover costs. It had said France Telecom hoped to offset those losses with considerable profits on the prices it charged Wanadoo's competitors for access to the network. The Court of First Instance had in January 2007 upheld the Commission's decision.