Germany Should Sell its Deutsche Telekom Stake

German monopolies commission used an election process to reiterate calls for the telecoms sector to be overhauled. That includes a suggestion the state should sell its stake in Deutsche Telekom to remove a conflict of interest.

In a statement made as part of a broader push to overhaul nationally-regulated industries, Monopolkommission noted the state’s participation in DT posed a problematic duality. The country has the authority to influence the market by mandating the regulatory framework in the Telecommunications Act, while also having an interest in the operator’s financial success.

The commission previously called for the state to divest its DT stake in 2019, ahead of a 5G spectrum auction. At 30 June the state owned a total of 31.9 percent in DT. Of those, 14.5 percent are directly held by the government and 17.4 percent are owned through state bank KfW.

Alongside calls for divestiture, the commission also appealed for Germany to establish efficient network infrastructures, which it argues are important for the economy and society. It insisted current coverage gaps must be closed and political action was needed to seal what it saw as discrepancies between the nation’s digitalisation goals and reality.