39 Contingencies
As part of its ordinary business activities, Deutsche Telekom is involved in various proceedings both in and out of court with government agencies, competitors, and other parties, the outcome of which often cannot be reliably anticipated. As of the reporting date, the Group was exposed to contingent liabilities amounting to EUR 0.1 billion (December 31, 2024: EUR 0.1 billion) and to contingent assets amounting to EUR 0.0 billion (December 31, 2024: EUR 0.0 billion) that can be reliably estimated, and, on the basis of the information and estimates available, do not fulfill the requirements for recognition as liabilities or assets in the statement of financial position. The total contingent liabilities only include individual cases that do not have any significant impact on their own. In the event that, in extremely rare cases, Deutsche Telekom comes to the conclusion that the disclosures required by IAS 37 could seriously undermine the outcome of the relevant proceedings, these disclosures will not be made.
Contingent liabilities
On the basis of the information and estimates available, the following issues do not fulfill the requirements for recognition as liabilities in the statement of financial position. As it is not possible to estimate the amount of the contingent liabilities or the group of contingent liabilities with sufficient reliability in each case due to the uncertainties described below, they have not been included in the aforementioned total contingent liabilities.
Claims relating to charges for the shared use of cable ducts. In 2012, Kabel Deutschland Vertrieb und Service GmbH (today Vodafone Deutschland GmbH (VDG)) filed a claim against Telekom Deutschland GmbH to reduce the annual charge for the rights to use cable duct capacities. In similar proceedings, the then Unitymedia Hessen GmbH & Co. KG, Unitymedia NRW GmbH, and Kabel BW GmbH (today all Vodafone West) filed claims against Telekom Deutschland GmbH in January 2013, demanding that it cease charging the plaintiffs more than a specific and precisely stated amount for the shared use of cable ducts, including in the future. The claims were rejected by the Frankfurt/Main Higher Regional Court (VDG) and by the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court (Vodafone West) and an appeal was not allowed in both cases. In response to the complaints of the plaintiffs against non-allowance of appeal, the Federal Court of Justice allowed the appeal by VDG to the extent that it relates to claims dating from January 1, 2012 onward; the appeal by Vodafone West was allowed to the extent that it relates to claims dating from January 1, 2016 onward. The claims were rejected with legally binding effect for the time periods prior to this. In a ruling on December 14, 2021, the Federal Court of Justice referred the proceedings concerning the remaining claims back to the responsible Higher Regional Courts for a new hearing and decision. VDG has since updated its claim, which it now puts at around EUR 980 million plus interest for the period from January 2012 to December 2024. The plaintiff Vodafone West has also updated its claim, which it now puts at around EUR 538 million plus interest for the period from January 2016 to April 2024. It is currently not possible to estimate the financial impact of both these proceedings with sufficient certainty.
Sprint Merger class action. On June 1, 2021, a shareholder class action and derivative action was filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery against Deutsche Telekom AG, SoftBank, T‑Mobile US, and all of our officers and directors at that time, asserting a breach of fiduciary duties relating to the purchase price amendment to the Merger Agreement, as well as SoftBank’s subsequent monetization of its T‑Mobile US shares. The complaint, which was amended several times, remains directed at the same defendants and the same underlying transactions as in the original action; however, it includes additional submission on alleged facts. It is currently not possible to estimate the resulting claim and financial risk of these proceedings with sufficient certainty.
Proceedings against T‑Mobile US in consequence of the cyberattack on T‑Mobile US in August 2021. In August 2021, T‑Mobile US confirmed that their systems had been subject to a criminal cyberattack that compromised data of millions of their customers, former customers, and prospective customers. With the assistance of outside cybersecurity experts, T‑Mobile US located and closed the unauthorized access to their systems and identified customers whose information was impacted and notified them, consistent with state and federal requirements.
A shareholder derivative action that had remained pending in this context, filed in September 2022 against the members of the Board of Directors of T‑Mobile US and against T‑Mobile US as nominal defendant alleging claims for breach of fiduciary duties relating to the company’s cybersecurity practices, was dismissed with legal effect in the first quarter of 2025. The proceeding is thus concluded.
In addition, inquiries have been made by various government agencies, law enforcement and other state authorities, with which T‑Mobile US is cooperating in full. An agreement was reached in 2024 on the inquiries made by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). It is currently not possible to estimate the resultant financial risk of these proceedings with sufficient certainty.
The proceedings relating to the cyberattack in August 2021 will no longer be reported as the main lawsuits have been concluded.
Proceedings against T‑Mobile US in consequence of the cyberattack on T‑Mobile US in January 2023. On January 5, 2023, T‑Mobile US identified that a bad actor was obtaining data through an application programming interface (API). Investigations by the company have found that the affected API was only able to provide a limited set of customer account data, including name, billing address, email address, telephone number, date of birth, T‑Mobile account number, and information such as the number of lines on the account and plan features. The results of the investigation indicate that, in total, around 37 million current postpaid and prepaid customer accounts were affected, although many of these accounts did not include the full data set. T‑Mobile US assumes that the attacker retrieved data via the affected API for the first time from or around November 25, 2022. In accordance with federal and state requirements, the company has notified those individuals whose data was affected. In connection with this cyberattack, consumer class actions were filed against T‑Mobile US and official inquiries were submitted to the company, to which it will respond and, as a result of which, it may incur substantial expenses. It is currently not possible to estimate the resultant financial risk with sufficient certainty.
Class action relating to shareholder return programs of T‑Mobile US. On February 25, 2025, a shareholder class action and derivative action was filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery against Deutsche Telekom AG, T‑Mobile US, and all of T‑Mobile USʼ directors, asserting breach of fiduciary duties relating to the 2022 share buy-back program and the 2023–2024 shareholder return program of T‑Mobile US. It is currently not possible to estimate the resulting claim and financial risk of these proceedings with sufficient certainty.
Patents and licenses
Like many other large telecommunications and internet providers, Deutsche Telekom is regularly exposed to intellectual property rights disputes. There is a risk that Deutsche Telekom may have to pay license fees and/or compensation; Deutsche Telekom is also exposed to a risk of cease-and-desist orders, for example relating to the sale of a product or the use of a technology.
Anti-trust proceedings
Deutsche Telekom and its subsidiaries are subject to proceedings under anti-trust law in various jurisdictions, which may also lead to civil follow-on claims. Taken individually, none of the proceedings has a material impact. Deutsche Telekom believes the respective allegations and claims for damages are unfounded. The outcome of the proceedings cannot be foreseen at this point in time.
Claims for damages against Slovak Telekom following a European Commission decision to impose fines. The European Commission decided on October 15, 2014 that Slovak Telekom had abused its market power on the Slovak broadband market and as a result imposed fines on Slovak Telekom and Deutsche Telekom AG, which were paid in full in January 2015. After the General Court of the European Union partially overturned the European Commission’s decision in 2018 and reduced the fines by a total of EUR 13 million, the legal recourse following the ruling of the European Court of Justice on March 25, 2021 is exhausted. Following the decision of the European Commission, competitors filed damage actions against Slovak Telekom with the civil court in Bratislava. These claims seek compensation for alleged damages due to Slovak Telekom’s abuse of a dominant market position, as determined by the European Commission. Three claims totaling EUR 219 million plus interest are currently pending. It is currently not possible to estimate the financial impact with sufficient certainty.
Antitrust class action complaint following the merger with Sprint. T‑Mobile US is defending against an antitrust class action complaint from June 17, 2022, in which the plaintiffs allege that the merger of T‑Mobile US and Sprint violated the antitrust laws and harmed competition in the U.S. retail cell service market. Plaintiffs seek injunctive relief and trebled monetary damages on behalf of a purported class of AT&T and Verizon customers who plaintiffs allege paid artificially inflated prices due to the merger. It is currently not possible to estimate the financial impact with sufficient certainty.
Tax risks
In many countries, Deutsche Telekom is subject to the applicable tax regulations. Risks can arise from changes in local taxation laws or case law and different interpretations of existing provisions. As a result, they can affect Deutsche Telekom’s tax expense and benefits as well as tax receivables and liabilities.