L 218/24 Official Journal of the European Communities 18.8.1999 COMMISSION DECISION of 27 July 1999 relating to a proceeding under Article 81 of the EC Treaty and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (Case 1V[36.581 — Télécom Développement) (notified under document number C(1999) 2299) (Only the French text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (1999/574[EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, B. THE PARTIES Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European (3)  SNCF is the state-owned railways operator in France, Community, Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, Having regard to Council Regulation No 17 of 6 February 1962, First Regulation implementing Articles 85 and 86 of the EC Treaty ('), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1216/ 1999 (3, Having regard to the application for negative clearance and the notification for exemption submitted on 9 July 1997 pursuant to Articles 2 and 4 of Regulation No 17, Having regard to the summary of the application and noti- fication published () pursuant to Article 19(3) of Regulation No 17, After consultation with the Advisory Committee for Restrictive Practices and Dominant Positions, Whereas: I. THE FACTS A. INTRODUCTION (1)  On 11 April 1997 Cégétel SA (Cégétel), a new telecom- munications operator in France, and Société nationale des chemins de fer francais (SNCF), the French national railway company, concluded a number of agreements, under which they will cooperate through a jointly- owned subsidiary, Télécom Developpement (TD), to develop and run a national long-distance telecommuni- cations network along the French national railway network. (2)  The notified transaction is linked to the creation of Cégétel. By its decision of 20 May 1999 in Case IV/ 36.592 (%, the Commission declared that the agreements setting up Cégétel as a telecommunications operator in France do not give grounds for objection under Article 81(1) of the EC Treaty. 1 () OJ 13, 21.2.1962, p. 204/62. () O] L 148, 15.6.1999, p. 5. () O] C 293, 22.9.1998, p. 4. (*) See p. 14 of this Official Journal. (°) Previously known as ‘Compagnie Generale des Eaux (CGE) with both industrial and commercial activities, providing transport services on the nationwide rail network. Its core activities are passenger and freight transport, and related and complementary activities. SNCF has its own telecommunications network to satisfy its own needs. The aggregate turnover of SNCF for 1997 was EUR 6 573 million. (4)  Cégétel is a telecommunications operator, created in 1996, owned by the French water utility company Vivendi SA (°), British Telecommunications plc (BT), Mannesmann AG and indirectly by SBC International Inc. (%). Since 1 February 1998, Cégétel has offered a full range of telecommunications services to all the different segments of the French market. Cégétel also operates a nationwide GSM network through its subsidiary Societé francaise de radiotéléphonie (SFR). The aggregate turn- over of the Cégétel group in 1997 was approximately EUR 1610 million. (5)  TD is a private company with limited liability incor- porated under French law, created in 1996 by SNCF, in which by virtue of the notified agreements Cégétel becomes a shareholder. C. TRANSACTION (6)  The notification relates to the Framework Agreement dated 11 April 1997, the purpose of which is to define the principles governing the relations between SNCF and Cégetel, both with respect to the shareholding of Cégétel in TD and as regards the modalities of deployment of the network and operation of telecommunications services. (7)  The aim of TD is to develop and run a national, long- distance telecommunications network based on: (a) the surplus transmission capacity on the existing SNCF telecommunications network; (®) SBCI is a wholly owned subsidiary of SBC Communications Inc. SBC is a US company active mainly in the telecommunications services sector.