Noting that it has been less than four months since full deregulation was introduced under European Union rules, Mr. Scheurle said that the resulting change has exceeded all expectations. This new competitive environment has already paid dividends for German business and residential ratepayers. Price reductions as high as 50 percent for telecom services have taken place, with a continuing downward trend in many areas. One hundred more license applications are being processed. In addition, more than 1000 service providers are now active in the market.
Market entry is open to all comers, including foreign firms.
In the long-distance market, telephone customers can now opt for another provider, completely free of charge, simply by dialing the appropriate carrier preselection code. More than 50 different companies now offer telephony services. DT's competitors are expected to account for a 14 percent share of the fixed voice telephone market by the end of the decade, with a doubling of this figure by the year 2005. The Regulatory Authority has already demonstrated its independence in dealing with contentious issues involving Deutsche Telekom, Scheurle noted. The authority has turned down DT's rate proposals on number portability and on disconnection when a subscriber wants to shift to a competitive service.