European Commission Urges Germany to Spur Fixed Telephony Competition

The European Commission is urging the German regulator, Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA), to impose more effective competition remedies for fixed telephony.



In December 2005, Deutsche Telekom AG was found by BNetzA to have significant market power on the retail access market and on the market for local and national calls. The current notification covers the remedies that BNetzA intends to impose on DTAG in the access market and in the market for national calls as a follow-up to the December findings.



In line with the EU telecom rules, the European Commission is reminding BNetzA that carrier (pre-)selection services which allow the end-user to select a carrier of its choice for all, certain or individual calls, must be provided at a price that is based on actual costs and that direct charges to subscribers must not act as a disincentive for the use of such facilities.



"In Europe's telecom markets, remedies need to be clear and effective in order to improve the competitive situation and to safeguard the interests of consumers", said Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media. "I am determined to ensure a high degree of coherence and effectiveness of regulatory remedies throughout the European Union. This includes remedies at the retail level in cases where measures at the wholesale level have not resulted in a satisfactory degree of competition".http://europa.eu.int/