Update 1: Germany Wants to Privatize Railway
553977
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said Thursday that Germany&#39;s national railway should be privatized by 2008 at the latest, a day after Deutsche Bahn backed off a target of selling shares on the stock market by mid-2006.
86209
Germany's state governments will this week ask parliament for the freedom to further extend shop-opening hours, long seen as one of the most visible symbols of the heavy regulation of the country's economy.
711516
Business: 13 December 2004, Monday. Japanese corporation Mitsui will take part in the privatisation of Bulgaria's Varna, Bobov Dol and Rousse thermo-electric power plants.
526393
The Italian government said Wednesday that it was pressing on with its troubled plans to privatize Alitalia, with one potential bidder still in the running, but warned it may change its plans as it continues to ... via PR-inside.com
636392
German industrial conglomerate Siemens AG said Monday it was launching a second bid for Austrian competitor VA Technologie AG in an offer that valued the Linz-based maker of power generation and transmission ...
690200
(InfoWorld) - The European Commission asked the German regulatory authority, the Federal Network Agency, Monday to do more to ensure a level playing field in the market for high-speed optical fiber connections to the home or office. It is asking the regulator to help secure adequate access to the market for competitors to Deutsche Telekom AG. The Commission -- the executive and regulatory branch of the European Union -- also asked the national regulator to complete its market analysis for access to the new super fast networks, dubbed next-generation networks (NGNs). "The Commission is keen to ensure that NGNs can be deployed and made accessible in a consistent and transparent manner across Europe," said Viviane Reding, EU telecom commissioner. "It is vital that we ensure effective competition and the legal certainty necessary for all market players to invest in new products and services that will benefit consumers." In May the Federal Network Agency notified the Commission of rules designed to force Deutsche Telekom to grant competitors access to its copper fixed telephone network. As Deutsche Telekom is upgrading its network by rolling out optical fibre-based connections, these rules also apply during the transition to the new infrastructure. In a letter sent to the national regulator Monday, the Commission did not challenge its market definition of local loop unbundling but raised a number of issues on regulatory remedies. Having examined the rules, the Commission said they were a step in the right direction but ultimately they have failed to ensure fair competition. "There are more issues to be tackled, we want more remedies," said Martin Selmayr, a Commission spokesman in charge of telecom-related issues, at a press conference Monday. The rollout of fiber closer to the customers, normally to the street cabinets, enables the provision of high bandwidth services but it raises important issues regarding the position of alternative operators that currently benefit from access obligations of Deutsche Telekom's existing networks. As alternative operators in Germany roll out their own infrastructure to local exchanges, these operators now need an economic way of reaching the new access points provided in street cabinets. The Commission is asking the German telecom regulator to guarantee that access to Deutsche Telekom's existing copper network by its competitors remains efficient during the rollout of NGNs. In the new networks, the number of access points required by an alternative operator will be many times higher than that for the traditional fixed telephony network. In many cases there would no longer be a business case for alternative operators to extend their network down to the street cabinets, the Commission said. Therefore, the Commission stresses the importance of ensuring appropriate alternative access solutions as NGNs are deployed. The Commission can't force the national regulator to take action but its opinion cannot be ignored, Selmayr said. At the same time, the deployment of NGNs raises questions as to how competitors may continue benefiting from current access obligations, in the future, while maintaining incentives to invest for both the incumbent and new entrants. Deutsche Telekom has begun delivering IP (Internet Protocol) services such as telephony, television and Internet access over VDSL (Very high bit rate DSL) to customers in some German cities. It has asked the regulator to exempt its VDSL service from a requirement that it lease its infrastructure to competitors on reasonable terms, claiming that without the exclusive right to use the infrastructure, it cannot fund the necessary investment.
194358
"We intend to enter into a long-term commitment in the United Kingdom and make continuous investments in the quality of our services."  German state-owned rail operator Deutsche Bahn AG announced Monday it has agreed to buy Britain's Laing Rail, which runs passenger services in central and southern England. via CNN
257492
Plans to end subsidies for coal mining in Germany are under threat after a dispute over the timetable for the move.
17160
Deutsche Telekom, the German telecommunications giant, indicated for the first time that it is considering reintegrating its publicly listed Internet arm, T-Online.
586657
A planned rail freight service between Germany and China has been backed by six countries, Chinese media says.
684088
The operator of the rail link between France and Britain, said that it had received offers to finance its proposed financial restructuring.
189093
HANOVER, Germany  - Demonstrators in Germany chained themselves to a railway to stop a shipment of highly radioactive nuclear waste from France, a day after a protester was crushed to death under the train&#39;s wheels.
470220
Plans to privatize Germany&#39;s national railway, Deutsche Bahn (DB), ahead of national elections in 2006 have been stopped in their tracks after the supervisory board deemed the timeframe &quot;unrealistic.
295150
Germany's state railway company admitted the central role its Nazi-era predecessor played in the Holocaust yesterday, saying that without the cooperation of the network the systematic murder of millions of people would never have been possible
92414
The train is becoming an attractive option for business travelers in Europe.
125229
Germany's national railway, Deutsche Bahn, said Friday it had reached an agreement with the Transport Ministry to open an exhibition documenting its predecessor's role in the Holocaust.
271032
BERLIN  - Germany's national railway on Wednesday backed off a target of selling shares on the stock market by mid-2006, saying that it "does not appear realistic."