Germany: Telekom and EWE will work together for joint fibre-optic deployment

Telekom Deutschland GmbH and EWE AG would like to cooperate in the development of fiber-optic networks in parts of Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Bremen. The companies have now undertaken to the Bundeskartellamt to carry out an extensive deployment and in future to grant third companies access to their network. 

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt said, “Under the right conditions cooperations can ensure that the networks are quickly expanded and the provision of households with high bandwidths is improved. If the largest providers of internet connections in the region work together in the future, this will have considerable effects on competition. We therefore have to make sure that the cooperation will really accelerate the deployment and not make it difficult for third companies to also operate in the region. In order to achieve both these aims we have requested corresponding commitments from EWE and Telekom. These also apply to deployment in rural areas. Only a competitive environment ensures that consumers obtain attractive products at reasonable prices.”

Full Content: Bundeskartellamt

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