Fiber optics: Complaint about influence of the Digital Ministry on the regulator
State Secretary Schnorr is said to have exerted massive pressure on the Federal Network Agency in the report on the dual fiber optic expansion.
Cheating on fiber optic expansion? One state secretary in particular is said to have worked to ensure that the regulatory authority's verdict on Telekom's much-lamented cherry-picking is not too harsh.
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According to a report, the management level of the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV) exerted massive political influence on the Federal Network Agency's investigation into the overbuilding of fiber optic networks. State Secretary Stefan Schnorr (FDP) in particular is said to have gone to bat for Deutsche Telekom and ensured that the regulatory authority's verdict on the much-lamented cherry-picking by the Magenta Group is not too harsh and that the latter can simply carry on. The competitor associations Anga, Breko, VATM and VKU consider this approach to be unacceptable: "The ministry is thus protecting the interests of Telekom, in which the federal government still holds a direct and indirect stake of almost 28 percent."
Schnorr has spared Telekom from having to disclose detailed data about its fiber-optic expansion plans, writes the Tagesspiegel, referring to internal documents from the Federal Network Agency, which it released following a freedom of information request. Ultimately, it was not possible to prove that the top dog was abusing its market power. "This allows Telekom to continue its strategically destructive dual fiber optic expansion and further slow down the nationwide fiber optic expansion for the whole of Germany," the competitors complain. Schnorr had prevented a more extensive request for information from Telekom, which was deemed necessary by his own company and the regulator, in order to investigate its plans for signs of an intention to squeeze out competitors. The "scandalous" reason given was that the former monopolist should not be "pilloried".
Competitors: mingling harms digitalization
The results of the analysis should actually have been published in January. At the end of March, Anga, Breko and VATM complained to the German government that the Network Agency was delaying the publication of the report and thus also "consistent action". The agency then published an "interim report" online in mid-April. Tenor: Telekom is focusing heavily on lucrative core areas when laying fiber optic lines. It also reacts much more frequently at short notice to the start of sales by a competitor who is expanding for the first time than is the case the other way round. Competitors thus see this as confirmation of the top dog's potential to "pursue anti-competitive double expansion with the aim of crowding out other companies".
A passage in which the actually independent regulator wanted to portray Telekom's sales methods as "aggressive" is also said to have been deleted at the insistence of the BMDV. The targeted double expansion by Telekom continues to be a massive problem for achieving the government's goal of nationwide fast Internet connections and the billions in investment required for this, the four associations complain. With their inaction, politicians and regulators are unilaterally protecting the interests of the Magenta Group and damaging digitalization in Germany. Deutsche Telekom must now be obliged to submit its fiber optic expansion plans to the Federal Network Agency in confidence and thus make them available for a thorough investigation.
The Ministry of Digital Affairs plays down
The BMDV does not understand the uproar. A spokesperson told heise online that the ministry had "coordinated with the regulatory authority on several occasions and at various levels" when preparing the interim report. Such a process between the houses "takes place within the framework of technical supervision and is by no means unusual". It also often happens that initial drafts from the working level are also changed within the Federal Network Agency – after further questions have been clarified. Actual or announced double expansion is also "not problematic per se". Especially in densely populated areas, the parallel operation of two or more fiber optic networks can be economical. In the case of anti-competitive behavior, there is already a legal basis that allows the competition authorities to intervene.
(nen)