Competitive Telcos Vow to Fight Deutsche Telekom Request
Deutsche Telekom (DT) infuriated its rivals late last week by seeking a hefty increase in the monthly charge for access to its unbundled copper loop. In a motion filed with the Regulatory Authority for Telecoms & Post (RegTP), the incumbent telco sought a monthly nationwide fee of
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17.40 ($22.62) in addition to significant setup and termination fees. Its current fee is 11.80 ($15.42). Competitors said they would fight the increase.
The requested rate is much higher than the average charges in comparable U.S. states and many European countries that RegTP used for benchmarking, said Axel Spies, a Washington attorney who represents the German Competitive Carriers Assn. (VATM). That rate is about $10.85 in Italy and $11.24 in Denmark, Spies said. VATM members think Germany’s monthly charge should fall below
10 and that termination fees should be completely abolished, he said. DT’s request is “completely unjustified,” Spies said. DT couldn’t be reached for comment.
“As every other operator using local loop unbundling [LLU]” will, German telco QSC intends to oppose DT’s request, said Regulatory Dir. Christof Sommerberg. The increase itself isn’t unusual for DT, which made the same request in 2003, he said. But in absolute terms, the
17.40 is “absolutely impossible,” Sommerberg said. Local loops are written off and are a no-risk investment for DT, he said. As capital costs and replacement cycles are the main cost drivers for LLU, he said, they must be taken into account so prices can go down.
DT competitors had reportedly leased about 2 million subscriber lines by the end of 2004, and RegTP estimates a further one million will be leased this year.