Brussels, 13/10/2009 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has voiced concern about the procedure endorsed by the German telecoms authorities for attributing frequencies in 2010 on its territory, saying this could favour the largest operators. Commissioner Viviane Reding, responsible for information society and media, has sent a letter to the German authorities expressing her concern on this matter. The commissioner's fears are in line with those of small German operators (E-Plus, O2) that have, for their part, called on the regulator to ensure that all operators have equitable access to frequencies below one gigahertz, by limiting the largest operators' capacity to push bids up. In their view, T-Mobile and Vodafone are in a better position to outbid others as they were the first market entrants. They therefore suggest an alternative solution consisting of redistribution of part of the frequency spectrum already used. The advisory committee of the German authority rejects the Commission's suspicions, saying: “The Council was astonished over the EU Commission's attempt to influence the decision, when there's no legal basis for that”. The operation is the largest auction sale of digital telecom frequencies ever launched in Germany and could bring €5 billion into state coffers. The German regulatory authority has given its go-ahead to the project that could be implemented during the first half of 2010. Bids will mainly concern licenses for frequencies within the spectrum made available by the final halt of analogous Hertzian television broadcasting. This should speed up broad band telecommunications development and improve territorial coverage, especially in rural areas. (I.L./transl.jl)