Less than a week into European deregulation, Deutsche Telekom has shown again that it will fight ruthlessly the opening up the German telecom market and protect its own dominant network from competitors. The company wants to deter its customers from taking their business elsewhere by setting high charges that will penalize those who choose to switch to one of Germany’s new carriers. Telekom, which dominates Europe’s largest telecoms market, plans to charge DM94.99 ($52.80) to transfer customers to an alternative long distance carrier. There is also to be an additional DM53 ($29.40) charge for allowing departing customers to retain their phone numbers. Also as part of its new six month pricing system, Deutsche Telekom wants competitors to pay an average 2.7 pfennigs per minute ($0.015) for the use of Deutsche Telekom’s network. The move has brought criticism from Telekom’s competitors. Telecoms regulator Klaus-Dieter Scheurle and his deputy Arne Boernsen plan to meet with Deutsche Telekom next week to discuss the charges.
