IPTV is at the heart of Deutsche Telekom's plans

The Competition Commissioner backed plans by Germany's own telecoms regulator to address what it sees as Deutsche Telekom's market dominance.

Deutsche Telekom insists that with new products like internet TV the service should not be forced to open up.

It wants to offer TV, internet and phone links via a single connection.

One-stop shop

The Commission praised Germany's national telecoms regulator for its independent stand on domestic competition.

Deutsche Telekom has threatened to cease development of the service if it is subject to official regulation.

The prospect of offering consumers different media via a single connection lies at the heart of the network.

It is based on a system known as VDSL, which can carry far more content than existing networks.

European trend

Deutsche Telekom has teamed up with Microsoft to provide Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) in German cities.

IPTV services have emerged in the UK, France and Italy.

The new network is six times faster than existing services and is already installed in 10 German cities.

Deutsche Telekom hopes to extend it to 40 more cities by 2008.

Deutsche Telekom has German government support for its position.