European Union raids three Internet providers
European Union officials on Thursday conducted raids on three telecommunications companies as part of ongoing anti-trust investigations.
The EU鈥檚 investigative branch, the European Commission, had concerns that the companies involved 鈥� Germany's Deutsche Telekom, France's Orange SA, and Spanish firm Telefonica 鈥撀爉ight have violated EU regulations that 鈥減rohibit the abuse of a dominant market position.鈥�
Though the EC did not name the telecom companies involved in the investigation. Deutsche Telekom and Orange SA both confirmed the raid in separate statements, and Reuters reported that Telefonica was also raided, citing a source familiar with the issue.
The three Internet companies act as conduits through which smaller content providers offer their services at the retail level.
鈥楾his service is crucial for the functioning of the Internet,鈥� the EC鈥檚 statement reads.
The raids were conducted in response to complaints by local regulator Cogent Communications Group Inc., a Washington-based Internet provider whose customers transfer use services of Deutsche Telekom, Orange SA, and Telefonica, according to . Cogent alleges that the European telecom companies don鈥檛 provide enough bandwidth to meet demand.
As part of these investigations, data and emails at the company鈥檚 Headquarters in Bonn were also seized, according to a statement released by Deutsche Telekom on Thursday.
鈥淒eutsche Telekom is surprised by the initiation of further investigations by the Commission...since previous allegations have all turned out to be unfounded,鈥� the statement reads.
The EC carries out these kinds of inspections as a preliminary step into investigating suspected anticompetitive practices, though such inspections 鈥渄o not mean that the companies are guilty of anti-competitive behavior鈥� nor do they 鈥減rejudge the outcome of the investigation itself.鈥�
The companies could face fines amounting to 10 percent of their annual global sales. Deutsche Telekom, which includes the US firm T-Mobile, generated $76 billion (58 鈧�) in revenue in 2012, according to the German news outlet, .
There is no deadline for inquiries into anti-competitive conduct in the European Union.聽
