EC requests German wholesale rates from regulator

The European Commission has again asked the German telecoms regulator, Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA), to notify it of Deutsche Telekom's fixed call origination and termination rates.

Origination and termination rates are wholesale charges for connecting calls between operators. Until now, BNetzA has only provided general information about the principles it will apply, but did not notify the level of the regulated rates to the Commission and the national regulators of the other 26 EU Member States, as required by the EU telecoms rules' consultation ('Article 7 procedure').

This procedure, provided for by the European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers since 2002, aims to ensure more coherent and transparent regulation of telecom markets across Europe, to avoid distortions in competition between operators from different member states.

Should BNetzA continue to fail to comply with this obligation, the Commission may open an infringement procedure for non-compliance with EU law: the Commission requested termination rates from BNetzA last December.