Ticket giant reported to competition authority
Ticket sales company Biljettdirect Ticnet (BDT) has been reported to the Swedish Competition Authority for "exploiting its monopoly position," according to Friday's Svenska Dagbladet.
Anybody who has bought tickets for any music, theatre or sporting event in Sweden will almost certainly have booked them using BDT's system, either directly or through a reseller. Now those resellers have expressed their dissatisfaction at the way they are treated by BDT.
"If you want to be a Ticnet reseller it's take it or leave it. They take 60% of our service charge," complained Hans Melin, a ticket agent based in Borås.
He told SvD that his company continues to work with BDT because there is "nobody else to turn to".
The Swedish Competition Authority said it will investigate whether BDT has used its dominant position to obstruct competition.
BDT was the product of a merger in 2000 between the booking agency Biljettdirekt and the booking system company Ticnet. The company was jointly owned by ATG, Schibsted, SJ and Silja Line until it was sold in May 2004 to the American ticket giant Ticketmaster.
The company's managing director, Mats Brandt, told SvD that he welcomed the competition authority's investigation, saying that there is "absolutely competition and alternatives to us both in Sweden and abroad".
Sources: Svenska Dagbladet
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Anybody who has bought tickets for any music, theatre or sporting event in Sweden will almost certainly have booked them using BDT's system, either directly or through a reseller. Now those resellers have expressed their dissatisfaction at the way they are treated by BDT.
"If you want to be a Ticnet reseller it's take it or leave it. They take 60% of our service charge," complained Hans Melin, a ticket agent based in Borås.
He told SvD that his company continues to work with BDT because there is "nobody else to turn to".
The Swedish Competition Authority said it will investigate whether BDT has used its dominant position to obstruct competition.
BDT was the product of a merger in 2000 between the booking agency Biljettdirekt and the booking system company Ticnet. The company was jointly owned by ATG, Schibsted, SJ and Silja Line until it was sold in May 2004 to the American ticket giant Ticketmaster.
The company's managing director, Mats Brandt, told SvD that he welcomed the competition authority's investigation, saying that there is "absolutely competition and alternatives to us both in Sweden and abroad".
Sources: Svenska Dagbladet
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