Germany Fines Meta €30 Million Over DT Network Dispute

A German court ordered Meta Platforms’ subsidiary Edge Network Services to pay Deutsche Telekom around €30 million for using its network services without a valid contract. The payments cover services used by Meta’s platforms, including Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, between March 2021 and August 2024.

The court decision punctuates a long-running dispute between the companies, which centers on whether a binding contract existed during this period for Edge’s use of DT's network. The German operator argued Edge continued to route large volumes of traffic through its infrastructure after an original contract expired, instead of utilising its network through a new paid agreement.

Edge countered that both parties operated under a settlement-free peering deal, where neither typically pays for direct data exchanges. The court’s decision prevents Edge from appealing at the lower court level, though it can file a complaint with the federal court of justice within a month. The update comes after the pair announced an end to their direct peering relationship in 2024, following a court decision that ordered Edge to continue paying DT for the use of its network infrastructure.

Meta argued the fees demanded by the operator were unprecedented and unacceptable, adding it was surprised and disappointed by the breakdown in negotiations with DT and had begun routing traffic through a third-party transit provider as a result. At the time, DT countered that Meta is not above the law, accusing the social media giant of routing traffic via a transit provider to avoid the lawful payments.