About us
VATM is the leading representative of the competitive companies in the German telecommunications and digital market.
It brings together the interests of its member companies and represents them with a strong voice vis-à-vis policymakers, regulators and the public. With more than 210 member companies, VATM unites an exceptional breadth of business models and market segments under one roof: not only fixed-network and fibre companies, but equally business customer providers, mobile network operators, service providers, satellite operators and microwave radio providers, as well as further companies from the telecommunications and digital market.
The liberalization of the telecommunications market in 1998 did not automatically create a level playing field for all market participants. Fair competition in a formerly monopolized market and the necessary political and economic framework conditions could only be achieved then – and can only be achieved today – in a strong community of competitors. The motto “Competition unites” is the basis of this joint commitment. The success of this competition is clearly noticeable for customers in both the commercial and private sectors in the form of a wide range of offers, attractive prices and innovative services. The competing companies provide significant growth impetus for the entire German economy. They are the drivers of a modern gigabit society.
VATM invests in the expertise of its members
In a rapidly developing industry like telecommunications, successful companies depend significantly on being timely and comprehensively informed of impending changes and thus being able to respond to them quickly. VATM supports the economic activities of its members through the implementation and coordination of regularly scheduled working groups with respect to nearly all relevant areas of the telecommunications market. Participation in any working group of interest is open to any VATM member.
Fourteen working groups are currently active:
- Law & Regulation
- Security
- Data Protection
- Services
- Artificial Intelligence
- EU Affairs
- Business Customers Board
- Global Enterprise
- Sustainability
- Mobile Communications
- Microwave Radio
- Communications
- Technology & Operations
- Interfaces & Processes
Our contact institutions
- The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy
- The Federal Ministry for Digital and State Modernisation
- The Federal Chancellery
- The Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur)
- The Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt)
- The EU Commission
- The parties in the German Bundestag
VATM also maintains valuable contacts through a renowned law firm in Washington DC to the US regulator and to important politicians in the economic sector.
European policy
The focus of the association’s European policy is on the roll-out of fibre networks. For building this infrastructure it is crucial:
- to provide planning reliability to ensure investments – this implies equal, technology-neutral access to all relevant network elements,
- a fast, flexible and decentralized build-out by all market players, thereby preventing a remonopolisation of the market,
- risk sharing and a risk premium for investors, provided that all investors may benefit equally from it.