The Bundestag, the lower house of the German parliament yesterday finally passed the bill that will enable the Deutsche Bundespost Telekom to be privatised and float in 1996 – and immediately drew flak from AT&T Corp, which accused Germany of entrenching Telekom’s monopoly over the terrestrial network. The bill turns Telekom and the postal bank and mail agencies into joint stock companies in 1995 and sets up two new state agencies. Telekom, which could be worth $50,000m, will issue a first tranche of shares on international stock exchanges totalling $12,700m by mid-1996, with a second tranche in 1998. The government will not sell any of its own shares until 2000. It will hold a majority in Postdienst for at least five years and a blocking minority of 25.1% in Postbank. A new Bundesanstalt Post public holding company will administer the government’s stake in the three companies and manage the flotations, but will be barred from interfering in business decisions. A new Regulatory Council will be made up of representatives from the 16 federal states and 16 members of parliament and will have a say in granting and monitoring telecommunications and postal licences. It now goes to the Bundesrat for rubber stamping on July 8. Rainer Liebich, the chairman of AT&T Germany, said the failure of the bill to open German markets to full competition made it impossible to compete fairly with Telekom internationally. What Telekom can do in other markets must also be possible in Germany, he told Reuters.
