Regulators: Deutsche Telekom's fiber optic holdings must open up to competition
The Federal Network Agency has obliged two Telekom joint ventures to make available capacity in their empty conduits accessible to competitors.
(Image: heise online/vbr)
In a long-awaited decision, the Federal Network Agency has now made its decision: The regulatory framework that already applies to Telekom Deutschland's fiber optic infrastructure also applies to the network operators Glasfaser NordWest and Glasfaser Plus. Both companies are joint projects of Deutsche Telekom and EWE or the IFM Global Infrastructure Fund. The Network Agency has now decreed that both companies must make "available capacities in their ducts" accessible to competitors.
As in the case of Deutsche Telekom, access to free resources is to be provided via the gigabit land register from the infrastructure atlas. In addition, there is a "strict" obligation not to discriminate against those interested in access, the regulator emphasizes. Additional monitoring and transparency requirements ensure this.
The Network Agency justifies its decisions by stating that access seekers must also be able to "economically replicate Telekom's end customer products" in the expansion areas of the joint ventures. For Telekom itself, the Cologne Administrative Court recently confirmed a decision by the Federal Network Agency on open network access.
Competitors: too little and too late
We are thus "completing the regulatory framework in the fiber optic sector and creating uniform and transparent access conditions for competitors", emphasized the President of the Federal Network Agency, Klaus Müller. The decision, which was approved by the EU Commission, was preceded by an "intensive discussion" with all stakeholders. The new requirements will initially apply for around two years.
"The regulatory authority has taken two years and made the market wait for a strong signal in favor of competition," complains Frederic Ufer from the industry association VATM, which represents the interests of challengers to Telekom. The rulings are "extremely important". What is also needed, however, is more comprehensive regulation that "allows other network operators to compete with Telekom on an equal footing". For years, VATM has been calling for better "utilization of free empty conduit capacities".
According to Ufer, there should also be a non-discrimination requirement, in which the obligated company must "offer the same purchasing terms and conditions" as it does for its own sales. Overall, the "light regulation" practiced by the Network Agency for the past two years in the fibre optic sector is proving to be "increasingly inadequate".
(anw)
