Brussels, 20/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - Change plan for Deutsche Telekom. The German telecommunications regulator (BNetzA) announced, on Thursday 16 June, its decision to withdraw its proposal in the field of vectoring technology, following the launch of an in-depth investigation by the European Commission.
“This is neither a victory nor defeat, but rather the result of successful cooperation between the national regulator and the European Commission”, the European Commission told EUROPE.
Readers may recall that in early April, the German operator Deutsche Telekom got the go-ahead to use vectoring technology to update its network. This practice makes it possible to use the existing copper networks to offer higher-speed telecommunication lines. It is usually used on an intermediary basis, instead of deploying optic fibre networks. However, it only works when it is applied to a group of copper cables, which means that the individual connections cannot be physically disconnected by alternative operators. In this context, the European Commission had expressed doubts as to the legality of this measure with regard to the Community framework for telecommunications and competition and opted, on 10 May, to launch in-depth investigation lasting three months.
The ball is now in BNetzA's court to decide on the contents of a fresh proposal. The German regulator is subject to no time limit in this matter and has undertaken to work with the European Commission and the Body of European Regulators of Electronic Communications (BEREC). (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)