TheEuropean Commission said May 10 that it launched an investigation intoDeutsche Telekom AG's€1 billion plan to upgrade copper lines in Germany.

The EC isstepping in due to the "high complexity of the subject," and topreserve competition within the German broadband market.  

Germanfederal regulator Bundesnetzagentur allowed Deutsche Telekom to proceed with its proposalfor vectoring, despite rivals' calls to adopt fiber optic technology instead.

EUcommissioner for the digital economy and society Günther Oettinger said thatwhile vectoring technology can upgrade broadband speeds, it only works whenapplied to a whole bundle of copper cables.

The ECbelieves that the vectoring plan in its current form will likely restrictcompetition among Deutsche Telekom's rival operators, and is meeting with theBundesnetzagentur to discuss the matter.

If found tobe anticompetitive, the EC could order the German regulator to amend or abandonthe proposal.