Deutsche Telekom Can't Charge Access Fee, EU Court Says

Deutsche Telekom Can't Charge Access Fee, EU Court Says

Vodafone Group Plc's Arcor unit and two other German telecommunications companies shouldn't have been forced by Germany to pay Deutsche Telekom AG for accessing its phone network, the European Union's top court ruled. A national regulator can't require ``an operator of a network interconnected with a public network to pay to the market-dominant subscriber network operator a connection charge which is additional to an interconnection charge,'' the Luxembourg-based EU court said in its ruling today.

A German tribunal asked the European Court of Justice to help it resolve a dispute over the charges Germany imposed on the companies in 2003. Arcor, 01051 Telecom GmbH and a unit of Tele2 AB argued Germany violated EU rules by forcing them to compensate Deutsche Telekom for any losses it suffered by letting the companies connect customers through its network. The ruling comes as Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom SA and other large phone companies are fighting EU plans that could force them to open their networks to rivals. The EU last year sued Germany over a law that shields Deutsche Telekom's high- speed Internet service from competition.

``We regret the ruling,'' said Mark Nierwetberg, a spokesman for Bonn-based Deutsche Telekom, in an e-mailed comment. ``It remains to be seen to what degree this will have consequences for the proceedings at the Federal Administrative Court'' in Germany. ``This judgment is very good for competition,'' Ferran Tarradellas Espuny, a spokesman for the commission, said to reporters in Brussels.