The boss of Vodafone has launched a ferocious attack on BT and Deutsche Telekom, accusing them of trying to recreate the monopolies they held 30 years ago across Europe.
“This is a clear attempt by Deutsche Telekom and BT to undo 30 years of progress in telecoms in Europe and return to their monopoly status,” Vittorio Colao said, two weeks after the £12.5bn takeover of EE, the mobile giant jointly owned by Deustche and Orange, by BT was provisionally cleared by competition authorities. “The re-monopolisation risk in Europe is real and big,” he said.
“Deutsche Telekom and BT are both clearly pushing through Europe to use the copper networks they own to deliver broadband,” Mr Colao said. “We are the fourth largest provider of broadband in Europe but we do not get the access or service we need. In the UK, Openreach is delivering just half of what we request on time, that’s really bad.”
Mr Colao said that even the latest technologies to deliver ultra-fast fixed-line broadband required access to either or both the incumbent telcom companies’ ducts or copper networks in the UK, Germany, Spain and Italy.
He called on the European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager to investigate the power of the former state-owned firms because, he claimed: “Your main supplier is actually a competitor and does not play ball.”
Mr Colao still believes Openreach should be separated from BT and, if not, should be given much stricter controls over price and service delivery, particularly as Deutsche Telekom will become a 12 per cent shareholder in BT once the EE deal goes through.
“We are seeing the recreation of one monopoly with a large shareholding in it by another country’s monopoly,” he said. “Mrs Vestager should look at this situation.”
BT called Mr Colao’s comments “highly misleading”. A spokesman said: “The UK is one of the most competitive telecoms markets in the world and it is highly misleading to suggest otherwise. Independent [European Commission] data shows that BT has a 33 per cent market share, one of the lowest in Europe.”
Vodafone reported better than expected first-half figures, with both revenues and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation returning to growth. It even nudged up its forecast for full-year earnings from £11.7bn to £12bn.
Vodafone shares jumped nearly 4 per centto 222.8p. That is still below the 258p peak they hit in the summer before talks on a deal with John Malone’s Liberty came to nothing. Mr Colao also revealed that Vodafone plans to float its Indian business next year.
