Brussels, 06/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - The Commission announced on Friday 3 October that it had closed the investigation it launched in July 2013 into the practices of several European telecommunications groups active in the provision of internet connectivity, among them Orange, Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica. These groups were suspected of having broken European rules on abuse of dominant position in negotiating agreements for the supply of wholesale internet connection services. Following its analysis of the evidence obtained from inspections of the offices of these operators, the Commission has provisionally concluded that EU rules on competition do not appear to have been violated by excluding competitors from the internet transit market or from the internet content market. However, the Commission has announced that it will be following developments in the sector very closely, because it is important that consumers are kept informed of any changes which could have an effect on the quality of the services of certain content providers. (EL)