(AFP) - European Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes has said she expected to launch a sector-wide investigation into telecommunications companies next year.
Kroes had already said last month that after current sector probes into energy and financial services, scheduled to be completed by the end of the year, the telecommunications industry would similarly be ripe for an competition inquiry, reports Trend.
The commissioner reiterated that stance again during a visit to the German capital on Thursday, saying that the probe could begin "at the start of next year".
"I think it'll be good to determine whether the things have developed as they should" in terms of competition and market liberalization, she said.
The telecoms market has been one of Kroes' concerns since she took up her position as EU Commissioner at the end of 2004, but "we couldn't do everything at once," she said.