If there was ever a judgement that showed how unfit for purpose the European Union’s regulatory and legal processes are, this is a prime candidate
In the last few hours, the European Court of Justice has published its decision which support an earlier, lower court ruling in a case brought by Deutsche Telekom, Tele Columbus and NetCologne against Vodafone.
Back in 2018, Vodafone announced its intention of acquiring Liberty Global’s cable networks in Germany, Czechia, Romania and Hungary for an eye-watering €18.4 billion.
In Germany, Liberty Global’s cable TV firm operated under the Unitymedia brand and had acquired Kabel BW before it was itself up for sale. The European Commission expressed concerns about the proposed merger with Vodafone and its “compatibility with the internal market” but nevertheless approved the deal in July 2019, subject to Vodafone meeting certain remedies to safeguard competition. For example, Vodafone gave Telefonica Germany access to the cable network.
However, Deutsche Telekom, Tele Columbus and NetCologne were not satisfied that the Commission had gone far enough and strove to have the Commission’s approval overturned at the Court of the European Union. Its ruling supported the Commission’s decision, but the litigants persevered.
After much legal toing and froing, the European Court of Justice has now agreed with the lower court’s ruling.
Too late, irrelevant
Who cares? Five years later, it’s irrelevant. In the meantime, there have been three changes of leadership within Vodafone Germany and and a new group CEO is at the helm. The current incumbent in Germany, Marcel de Groot, bragged about the operator having the “largest unified fibre network in Germany” earlier this year. So why is Vodafone’s grip on the Germany, its biggest market, apparently weakening?
One could argue that disruptions in leadership and tying Vodafone Germany up in a legal argument could have been part of the reason it took its eye off the ball rather than leveraging the claimed superior infrastructure. This should have been a massive advantage given how late DT’s fibre build started in earnest.
Instead, as Vodafone appears to be losing its grip on its biggest market, DT is gaining ground in Germany as demonstrated by its Q3 results which no doubt will numb the pain of losing that court case.