T-Mobile Netherlands has lost a court case brought against KPN in an attempt to slow the incumbent's shutdown of the copper network. T-Mobile said it will turn to the regulator ACM in the hope of support.
KPN plans to stop delivering new copper lines from 2022 and end DSL connections from 2023. The shutdown comes as KPN is quickly rolling out FTTP to much of the country. T-Mobile said it needs more time to transition its customers using the KPN network and wants the copper shutdown delayed by two years.
T-Mobile told Telecompaper that it supports the shift to fibre. However, the migration cannot be an excuse for KPN to increase its market share and margin in an unfair manner, at the cost of wholesale customers like T-Mobile, the company said.
T-Mobile claims some services cannot be ended so soon, such as business contracts for vital infrastructure or alarm connections over the copper lines. The company said KPN's terms do not allow for a functional and financially acceptable transition for customers. However, the court in Rotterdam said T-Mobile did not sufficiently support its argument. As a result the request for an injunction staying the copper shutdown was rejected.
The court found that T-Mobile's claim was largely based on financial concerns. The operator estimates the costs of migrating a consumer line at EUR 250, but did not sufficiently support this amount, the judge said. KPN disputes these amounts.
The court also rejected T-Mobile's request to pause the copper migration until the ACM completes its new analysis of the fixed market. The court said it did not want to pre-empt any decision by the regulator.
