Europe's biggest telecom operators may face a competition investigation from the European Commission, amid concerns their meetings may have led to collusion. In the first stage of an antitrust action, Brussels competition officials have demanded information about discussions between the leaders of the five largest operators in Europe, the Financial Times reports. Nicknamed the E5, the meetings, which started in 2010, included the four incumbents Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom, Telecom Italia and Telefonica, as well as Vodafone. Topics ranged from the challenge posed by US tech giants such as Google and Apple to harmonisation of technology platforms for mobile payments. According to the paper's sources, a formal European Commission investigation has yet to be launched. But the decision to demand information usually reflects specific concerns in the Commission and is the first step in collecting evidence to justify more serious action. Competition officials began the inquiry with a questionnaire to the GSMA, which has recently taken over the work of the now disbanded E5. The GSMA confirmed that it has "recently received correspondence from [Directorate General for] Competition which we will respond to in due course," but added that this was a confidential matter. An EC spokesperson declined to comment. One person close to the situation expressed surprise at the inquiry given the presence of a lawyer at each meeting, and notes sent to the European authorities about the content of the discussions.
