BRUSSELS-L.M. Ericsson filed a complaint with the European Union, charging that Austria’s award of a GSM license to international consortium Oe-Call is unfair. Oe-Call is lead by Deutsche Telecom AG and Siemens AG Oesterreich, the latter an equipment provider.
Ericsson spokeswoman Kathy Egan said that Siemens, as an operator, could access information, making competition among equipment providers unfair. The relationship Siemens has as both operator and equipment provider violates several competition rules of the European Commission, charged Egan.
Oe-Call is owned 25 percent by DeTeMobil, the cellular arm of Deutsche Telecom, and 19.8 percent by Siemens. The majority of remaining shares are held by Austrian and German banks.
