The European Commission is planning to grant exceptional start-up aid for a fourth new telecommunications provder in Europe, according to German magazine WirtschaftsWoche's website, wiwo.de. Wiwo said this is one of the requirements that European Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia wants to impose to approve the merger of O2 with E-Plus. Almunia fears that having three similar sized mobile operators, namely Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, and now Telefonica/E-Plus, will curtail competition. The commission's proposals have been submitted to the German mobile operators for comments.
Under the proposal, the new operator would be granted mast locations, about 200 shops, and a customer support call centre, Wiwo said. Telefonica would have until 31 December to sign contracts with the potential new fourth operator. Wiwo said there is no sign of any party being interested in the idea so far and if none emerges, there would be a 'plan B' under which providers such as United Internet and Freenet, who do not own their own networks, would be granted more access rights.
Wiwo said the competitors oppose the EU plans, considering them to be back-door regulation and damaging to every network operator. They said they could take legal steps, as it is up to German watchdog BDA to regulate the national market, rather than the European Commission, said Wiwo.