FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Vodafone's deal to open up its German broadband network marks a transparent attempt to save its $22 billion (16.8 billion pounds) deal to acquire European assets from Liberty Global, Deutsche Telekom said on Tuesday, slamming the move.
Vodafone said earlier it would give Telefonica Deutschland wholesale access to its high-speed network to try to win approval from European Union competition regulators for the Liberty deal.
"The proposal by Vodafone is apparently an attempt to rescue a merger that raises major concerns in the European Commission," Deutsche Telekom, the German market leader, said in a statement.
The proposal would not lead to a single additional broadband cable being laid in Germany, Deutsche Telekom added, saying it could even slow work to build out super-fast fibre-optic networks - a government priority.
(Reporting by Douglas Busvine; Editing by Thomas Seythal)
