(Adds details on the fines)
MILAN, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Italy's antitrust authority said
on Friday it had fined Italy's top four phone operators a total
of 228 million euros ($253 million) for breaching competition
rules by collectively agreeing to raise their prices.
The watchdog opened a probe against Telecom Italia
, Vodafone, CK Hutchison's unit Wind Tre
and Swisscom's Fastweb in 2018, claiming the
carriers had agreed to raise tariffs after they had been forced
to scrap a billing scheme based on 28 days rather than a full
month.
Italian consumer association Altroconsumo, which actively
campaigned against the companies' billing practices, said the
fines were equal to 114 million euros for Telecom Italia, 60
million euros for Vodafone, 39 million euros for Wind Tre and
the rest for Fastweb.
The antitrust decision could be appealed by the companies.
($1 = 0.9014 euros)
(Reporting by Elvira Pollina and Francesca Landini; editing by
James Mackenzie)