Final report: Regulator exonerates Telekom in fiber optic superstructure

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Deutsche Telekom will still have to live with the suspicion that it is cherry-picking when it comes to fiber optic expansion. However, the final report published on Wednesday by the body set up by the Federal Network Agency and the Federal Ministry of Digital Affairs to monitor potential dual fiber optic expansion is much more positive for the Magenta Group than the interim conclusion over a year ago.

The findings of the preliminary report from spring 2024 included the fact that Deutsche Telekom - compared to other dual network operators – - only develops profitable areas more frequently and reacts quickly to the sales launch of a competitor that is active first. The regulatory experts noticed a “tendency” towards patterns that attested to aggressive behavior in some cases.

The auditors continued their activities after April 2024 and received reports from market participants until the beginning of July 2025. The final report is based on 539 usable cases of double expansion. According to the Federal Network Agency, the monitoring body “generated an overall picture of the expansion competition, including possible impairments”. However, the additional monitoring “did not lead to any further findings”.

Telecoms focus on lucrative core areas

According to the regulatory authority, this applies above all to cases of possible “empty” expansion announcements. The results here have remained “stable,” even considering the extended time perspective of a good year. The fact that a second expansion company did not implement its announced project – i.e., initially only sought to mark out a territory and keep out competitors – was ultimately very rare. It did not matter whether the second company was “Telekom or one of its competitors”.

According to the reports received, Telekom - compared to other dual network operators – - often started its expansion close in time to the sales launch of a competitor that was active first. In addition, it remains the case that Telekom “more frequently only developed lucrative core areas”. The Federal Network Agency qualifies this: The agency's investigations were based “exclusively on the information provided by the players participating in the monitoring”. Reliable conclusions could not be drawn from this alone.

In 47 percent of the cases in which Telekom was the company that joined later, the inspectors found evidence of a short-term reaction. In these cases, the Magenta Group announced its sales or marketing activities within around ten months of the competitor's sales launch. However, there was hardly any evidence that Telekom announced an expansion that it subsequently did not pursue or implement.

Ruling Chamber: No systematic misconduct

The Monitoring Body referred several cases to Ruling Chamber 3 of the regulatory authority, which is responsible for relevant issues. According to the report, it examined the submissions in detail. In none of the case studies examined, including one on replication and several on parallel expansion, did the chamber identify sufficient evidence for the initiation of abuse proceedings that reliably indicated “systematic anti-competitive behavior” for Telekom.

In one case, there were indications of a targeted reaction by the Group by bringing forward its end customer marketing and creating the impression of a prompt expansion start. However, Deutsche Telekom has since corrected this critical end customer information so that there is no longer any current impairment.

The Chamber emphasizes that Deutsche Telekom is also fundamentally entitled to react to developments in competition within the framework of the infrastructure competition expressly desired by the Telecommunications Act (TKG). Deutsche Telekom's expansion is “not questionable per se”. On the contrary, “a wide range of expansion activities – are generally desirable, even from a company with market power“.

Telekom is pleased, competitors are disappointed

“Infrastructure competition can lead to inefficient market results in areas where only the expansion of a single fiber optic network is economically viable,” concludes the Federal Network Agency. However, it currently sees no basis for stronger market intervention. The President of the regulatory authority, Klaus Müller, also announced that the monitoring office would now be closed. However, the agency will “continue to investigate specific competition problems in the event of double expansion”. Further investigations would then require “a conclusive presentation from the industry, sufficiently substantiated by facts”.

“Now it's official,” Telekom celebrates the result. The accusations of some competitors regarding the alleged “strategic superstructure” did not stand up to scrutiny. Wolfgang Kopf, Head of Regulation at the Bonn-based company, therefore wants to put an end to the grossly negligent “sham debate” started by competitors: “Now we should concentrate on the important issues of fiber optic expansion: These are faster approval procedures” and the development of homes.

Meanwhile, the competitor associations Breko and VATM complain that the Federal Network Agency has not drawn the right conclusions from its findings of clear anomalies in Telekom's expansion behavior. The authority must live up to its responsibility, scrutinize particularly critical cases, and request the necessary information. The fact that the regulator itself had not submitted a formal request for information to Telekom long ago was “incomprehensible considering the continuing acute problem”. An obligation for Telekom to confidentially deposit its expansion plans would be an important step. The Digital Ministry must also urgently create fair framework conditions so that rapid digitalization with a high-performance infrastructure can succeed.

(afl)