Deutsche Telekom's 'anti-competitive' action brings lawsuit

NEWS World Access has a 33 per cent share in German telecoms company Teldafax, whose access to Deutsche Telekom's network was blocked after it clocked up around DM90m (£28.68m) in non-payments. World Access is claiming that Telekom's actions break anti-trust regulations. The company further alleges that Telekom tried to poach customers from Teldafax. Total damages could reach up to DM1.3bn (£0.41bn), although World Access' unsuccessful attempts to increase its share in Teldefax to 70 per cent may reduce the figure. The lawsuit will be dealt with by a US court in Georgia but has yet to be filed. A Deutsche Telekom spokesman could not comment on how the German giant will react. Teldefax was reinstated on the network on Friday, having obtained a temporary injunction against Telekom at the Cologne district court and settled the payment of DM5m (£1.59m). Deutsche Telekom's Ron Sommer features in silicon.com's Agenda Setters 2001. To find out more, visit http://www.silicon.com/as2001