The European Commission said today it was taking Germany to court for a law that allows the country's dominant telecoms operator, Deutsche Telekom, to block rivals from its high-speed Internet network.
The move came as the European Union's top antitrust regulator started or stepped up legal action against a raft of other member states for breaking EU telecom laws.
European Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding has pushed Germany for months to change the amended telecoms law, which came into effect in February.
Deutsche Telekom's rivals have complained the law temporarily blocks their access to the broadband market. The former state monopoly argues it needs the protection because of the scale of its investment in the network, on which it will spend a total of €3 billion.
The German government has said the law creates a balance between strengthening competition and the demands of companies reluctant to invest. A spokeswoman for Germany's Economy Ministry said the government was not worried by the Commission's move. "The government is of the view the court will uphold its position," she told a regular news conference.
The Commission started legal action against Poland for a flawed market analysis that led the national regulator to slap a record fine on telecoms firm TPSA.
The regulator fined TPSA 339 million zlotys for overcharging on its broadband services, but the Commission has said the authorities' approach to the market was wrong and that no member state had regulated retail broadband.