The European Commission will on Monday approve German plans to open domestic broadband networks including a high-speed system planned by Deutsche Telekom to new competition, an EU official said. "Monday is the decisive day when this whole battle will come to a good end," the official said on Friday, declining to be identified.
The German government has sought to shield Deutsche Telekom from initial competition in a media bill yet to be adopted. Deutsche Telekom wants effectively to restrict access to a high-speed broadband VDSL network it is building, saying it needs time to recoup a 3 billion euro ($3.9 billion) investment.
The regulator, Bundesnetzagentur, sent proposals to the Commission in July to remedy the dominant position of Deutsche Telekom on the German broadband market, which it found in a market analysis last year.
Martin Selmayr, a spokesman for EU Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding, confirmed that the Commission would reply to the German telecoms regulator on Monday regarding the watchdog's plans to open broadband networks to competitors. "We will on Monday send a letter to the German regulator in response to their notification of July 21," Selmayr said, declining to comment further.
Reuters reported in July that the Commission, the EU's executive arm, was due to endorse the German regulator's broadband plans in late August. "The German regulator has notified us of measures giving access to competitors to the wholesale broadband network of Deutsche Telekom, whatever technology is used. We now endorse that notification," the official said.
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