According to a Dow Jones report, German regulators must ensure rivals have access to Deutsche Telekom AG's (DT) planned EUR3 billion high-speed broadband network, the European Union's top telecommunications official Viviane Reding said.
"While telecommunications companies should be allowed to recoup infrastructure investments and reap a reasonable return, they should not be exempt from antitrust rules," Reding said.
German authorities last month accepted Brussels' demands to open Deutsche Telekom's proposed network to other operators. Reding noted that while several players have shown an interest in investing in German broadband services, the German regulator still has to ensure they are allowed access.
The German government had initially agreed with Deutsche Telekom's argument that it could only make a decent profit on the network if it was exempt from regulation and from any obligation to offer its lines to rivals.
"While telecommunications companies should be allowed to recoup infrastructure investments and reap a reasonable return, they should not be exempt from antitrust rules," Reding said.
German authorities last month accepted Brussels' demands to open Deutsche Telekom's proposed network to other operators. Reding noted that while several players have shown an interest in investing in German broadband services, the German regulator still has to ensure they are allowed access.
The German government had initially agreed with Deutsche Telekom's argument that it could only make a decent profit on the network if it was exempt from regulation and from any obligation to offer its lines to rivals.