DEUTSCHE TELEKOM AUTHORISED TO LOWER TARIFFS FROM JANUARY 1 1999.

Germany's Telecommunications Regulator indicated on December 11 that it had approved Deutsche Telekom's new charging structure which will reduce the cost of certain calls by up to 63% from January 1 1999. The semi-public operator sought authorisation on November 12 to reduce the cost of long-distance communications in Germany. The Telecoms Watchdog subsequently examined whether the new Deutsche Telekom tariffs were tantamount to a distortion in the treatment of traditional analogue telephone subscribers and those using digital lines, but found no evidence of any such imbalance. The operator proposed to offer larger tariff cuts to digital users. On March 1 1998, two months after the complete...