Telekommunikationsgesetz

According to a press release dated 26 February 2018, the Administrative Court of Appeal Munster (Oberverwaltungsgericht Münster) asked the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for a preliminary ruling on the question whether Over-the-Top (OTT) services shall be caught by the European regulatory framework on telecommunications services.

Background

By way of administrative orders, the German Federal Network Authority (Bundesnetzagentur – BNetzA) enforced a specific notification obligation pursuant to section 6 of the German Telecommunications Act (Telekommunikationsgesetz – TKG), which applies to operators of telecommunications services, against Google in relation to its free-of-charge Gmail service. Google took the view that Gmail would not qualify as “operation of telecommunication services” in the meaning of the TKG and, therefore, Google had not notified the Gmail service with the BNetzA.

Google challenged the administrative orders by legal action before the Administrative Court Cologne (Verwaltungsgericht Köln). Google argued that the transmission of emails through the Internet is technically not under Google’s control since it is conducted by access providers and not by Google. The Administrative Court Cologne regarded these arguments as irrelevant. By contrast, the transmission services provided by the access providers involved shall be attributed to Google. As a consequence, the Administrative Court Cologne found that Google would qualify as “operator” of the whole communication process. In its judgment of 11 November 2015, case no. 21 K 450/15, the Administrative Court Cologne dismissed Google’s action. As a consequence, Gmail would indeed be covered by the notification obligation under section 6 TKG.Continue Reading Are OTT services telecommunications services? German court asks European Court of Justice for preliminary ruling | Gmail Case