The European Commission fined Deutsche Telekom €12.6 million today for charging start-up rivals too much for access to its local networks.
The Commission said new prices set by German regulators on May 1st were still too high and that the company must reduce them immediately. DT will face another review in two months.
"DT, with a market share of 95 percent, remains the dominant provider of broadband and narrowband retail access," said Competition Commissioner Mr Mario Monti in a statement.
Telekom's competitors need access to the wire running from the local telephone exchange to the customer's home or office.
The Commission said that from 1998 to 2001, the former monopoly telephone service provider charged new entrants higher fees for wholesale access than it charged its own retail customers for fixed-line subscriptions, making it impossible to compete.
Starting in 2002 Telekom adjusted its prices so that the wholesale price was lower than retail. But the Commission said the difference was so narrow that Telekom itself could have made money at that rate.
The Commission's action stems from complaints by Mannesmann Arcor and local and regional carriers in Germany.