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DTel must open wires
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November 16, 2000: 8:39 a.m. ET
German regulator tells Deutsche Telekom to free up access to T-Online rivals
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Germany's telecom regulator on Thursday ordered Deutsche Telekom AG, the country's dominant phone company, to offer competitors of its Internet service provider T-Online International AG unmetered, flat-rate use of its wires to provide Web access from next year.
T-Online's rivals, AOL Germany and Freenet.com, and Internet infrastructure operators WorldCom (WCOM: Research, Estimates) and Mediaways, complained to the regulator RegTP that Deutsche Telekom was offering preferential service to T-Online. They said calls to the Internet should be free, as they are in the United States.
RegTP said Deutsche Telekom must offer Internet access providers unmetered access to the Internet from February 1, 2001.
"By mandating a wholesale unmetered rate, RegTP has laid the groundwork for more affordable, flat rates that will allow consumers to stop watching the clock," said AOL Germany President Uwe Heddendorp.
 Shares in T-Online (ATOI), Europe's biggest ISP, fell 3 percent to  19.19 on the speculation that new rates will open the door to more intense competition to the nation's No. 1 Web service provider. Deutsche Telekom (FDTE) dropped 1.3 percent 40.74.
The regulator said Deutsche Telekom must stop giving bulk discount rates for access to its telephone network, dealing a blow to the group's subsidiary T-Online. The regulator said it will ban the practice from December 15.
T-Online's shares have lost 49 percent of their value since launching on the Neuer Markt in April at a price of 37.50. Four top executives at the web company have resigned in the space of three months as Deutsche Telekom reasserted control over the business.
In Europe, Internet service providers have to pay telecom network owners by the minute to send Web traffic across the Internet. That exposes ISPs to potential losses if they offer clients flat-rate Internet access, under which customers pay the same fee regardless of the amount of time they remain online.
AOL UK has led a campaign in Britain to get British Telecommunications PLC (BT-A) to offer flat-rate Internet access. The British regulator Oftel on Monday ordered BT to stop charging by-the-minute rates for Internet service providers that use its network to offer customers unmetered-use deals.
AOL Germany and AOL UK are units of AOL Europe, a joint venture between Germany media conglomerate Bertelsmann AG and America Online Inc. (AOL: Research, Estimates). AOL, the world's No. 1 Internet company, is merging with Time Warner Inc. (TWX: Research, Estimates), the owner of CNN and CNNfn.com.
--from staff and wire reports 
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