FIXED TELEPHONY : COMMISSION DENOUNCES DEUTSCHE TELEKOM'S PRACTICES.

The German telecoms regulator (BNetzA) is going to have to take action to improve competition on the fixed telephony market, dominated by the incumbent operator Deutsche Telekom (DT). By imposing retail prices on its competitors for access to its network, DT has blocked the entry of new operators, according to a Commission statement dated 17 December 2009.

The EU executive has written to the regulator to urge it to oblige the former monopoly to make its landlines available to other operators and to monitor wholesale prices charged to new operators using the Deutsche Telekom network. For the moment, notes the Commission, "Deutsche Telekom charges these operators the same price as it does its own consumers". The German authority should therefore "ensure that alternative operators can give consumers more choice by making sure they can rent phone lines at a wholesale price instead of a retail price, so that German users feel the real...