Propping up profits
It's a tragedy. Germany should be pulled into line. They are holding competition back in Europe and will be the cause of a lot of grief for consumers of Telco services and many Telcos themselves.
The German Government is very lax about their Telcos, price and quality regulation, and isn't working for their people, because they like the idea of German telcos (in particular Telekom) being the most profitable in Europe, in order to buy other companies outside of Germany. The Telekom-Fiber deal currently under scrutiny by the EU is one but instance. Germany not having any telecommunications ombudsman or simple complaint mechanism also means that the only recourse for telco abuses within Germany is the courts, and keeps all but the most serious abuses from the media's and consumer's scrutiny.
It's time to beat telco's into line with enforced legislation that encourages competition, and punishes monopoly and cartel behaviour. Short term consequences be damned - it's for the common good.