Deutsche Telekom heads for clash with EU
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(InfoWorld) - With the support of German lawmakers, incumbent telecommunications operator Deutsche TelekomÂ is racing into a head-on clash with the European Commission over a decision to keep rival operators off its new high-speed broadband network. The upper house of the German parliament approved a revised telecommunications law on Friday. The law will allow partially state-owned Deutsche Telekom to ban competitors from using its VDSL (Very high bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line) network to sell services. The decision flies in the face of Commission legislation that mandates member states to force telecommunications companies with dominant positions -- in most cases former state-owned monopolies -- into opening their network infrastructure to rival operators on favorable terms. While Deutsche Telekom eventually opened its local-loop infrastructure under pressure from Brussels, the operator has fought attempts to allow competition on its new network. It argues that the VDSL network represents a new market for combined triple-play telephony, high-speed Internet and TV services, and new markets are protected under European Union law; in addition, it needs to protect its â¬3 billion ($3.9 billion) investment in the super high-speed network. German lawmakers have become slightly sympathetic to Deutsche Telekom, which has been bleeding fixed-line customers by the millions and consequentlyÂ forced to lower operating costs, largely through job cuts. Since its privatization, the operator has reduced its workforce from more than 250,000 at the peak to around 180,000 today. Over the years, Deutsche Telekom and the German government have clashed with Brussels on issues including the divestment of the operator's cable TV network and local-loop unbundling. In repeated warnings over the past several months, the Commission has said it will take whatever action is necessary to make Germany observe E.U. law. The issue could land in the European Court of Justice, which is responsible for handling E.U. treaty infringements. Court decisions can take years, however. Rival fixed-line operators, including ArcorÂ & Co., which is owned by the Vodafone Group, have made it clear they don't want the former monopoly telephone operator to be given any advantages to dominate another market as it has with the market for telephone service.
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Defenders of financial rigour in the European Union attacked German calls for a radical dilution of the eurozone's budget rules at a lively meeting of EU finance chiefs.
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The incoming head of the European Commission has been trying to end a dispute which threatens to leave the EU without an executive.
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Germany is selling a E4.45 billion (R36.12 billion) stake in Deutsche Telekom, making it the fourth European government to sell state assets in the past six weeks to help reduce a deficit that exceeds EU limits ...
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German Economy Minister Michael Glos called on Wednesday for a Europe-wide regulation on the so-called &quot;roaming fees&quot; charged by mobile telecom operators for telephone calls made in a foreign country.
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BONN - The German state announced plans Monday to reduce its stake in telecoms giant Deutsche Telekom by some 7 percent in a transaction which could generate revenue amounting to nearly EUR 4.5 billion.
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German telecommunications group Deutsche Telekom pursued its international offensive on Friday, annoncing the purchase of Dutch operator Orange Netherlands from its parent group, France Telecom.
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Germany and France are expected to adopt a tougher stand on the Turkish bid to join the EU when their leaders meet in SaarbrA A1 4cken on Tuesday .Comment
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Germany's Deutsche Telekom  wants to step up its efforts to cut labor costs and boost competitiveness by redeploying a large number of its civil servants and slimming down its bloated administration.
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Defenders of financial rigour in the European Union attacked Tuesday a German call for a radical overhaul of the eurozone's budget rules at a lively meeting of EU finance chiefs.
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Euronext, the Franco-Dutch stock exchange operator, is this week expected to challenge Deutsche BÃ¶rse (DB) of Germany for control of the London Stock Exchange.
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The European Union's telecoms chief  said on Thursday she would favor the European mobile television  broadcasting standard over U.S. and Korean rivals, when the  Commission decides which to back next month.
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Deutsche Telekom is ready to make acquisitions in the mobile communications sector, and could finance them by selling non-core activities such as Club Internet in France, the head of the German telecoms giant said Thursday.
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After five weeks of strikes, management and unions at Deutsche Telekom returned to the negotiating table Wednesday to try and resolve their dispute over a radical shake-up of the German telecom&#39;s services unit.
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German telecoms giant Deutsche Telekom is considering selling its French Internet access provider Club Internet.
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BARCELONA, Spain  - Mobile phone operators must  act before July 1 to avoid the European Union imposing lower  prices for texting or surfing the Web via mobile phones when  abroad, the bloc's top telecoms regulator said on Monday.
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Deutsche Telekom AG, Europe&#39;s largest phone company, plans to buy out investors in its T-Online Internet division in a transaction worth about 2.9 billion euros ($3.