The European Commission (EC) has raided the offices of several telecommunication firms operating in the region following concerns that they may have violated EU antitrust rules.
The commission said it is looking into whether the companies offering Internet connectivity services in several member countries have been abusing their dominant market position.
EC described the unannounced inspections as a preliminary step to check for anticompetitive practices.
Several reports suggest that regulators searched offices of Deutsche Telekom, Orange and Telefonica.
Orange and Deutsche Telekom have confirmed that their offices have also been inspected by the European regulators.
France-based Orange said it is co-operating fully with the EC and at this stage the company’s practices haven’t been incriminated.
Deutsche Telekom said it was surprised by the commission’s investigations since previous allegations have all turned out to be unfounded.
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The company said: "Deutsche Telekom faces fierce competition on the global market for Internet traffic.
"This market is dominated by major providers based in the United States, which means we are not the right target for these investigations. Deutsche Telekom is cooperating closely with the authorities to clarify the matter," the company said.
EC said there is no legal deadline to complete inquiries into anticompetitive conduct and their duration depends on a number of factors, including the complexity of each case, the extent to which the undertakings concerned co-operate with the commission and the exercise of the rights of defence.
