TKA Telekom Austria Ag

The chief executive officer of Telekom Austria AG (TKA.VI) has criticized European Union plans that could force mobile phone companies with networks to reserve capacity for competitors at low prices.

"It's absurd to create a situation in which it's cheaper to possess no infrastructure," Telekom Austria's Hannes Ametsreiter said in an interview with magazine WirtschaftsWoche.

In Austria, the European Commission cleared Hutchison Whampoa Ltd.'s (0013.HK) 1.3 billion euros ($1.8 billion) purchase of wireless carrier Orange Austria after Hutchison agreed to divest radio spectrum and offer network access to new rivals. A similar model is being examined in connection with Telefonica SA's (TEF.MC) takeover of Royal KPN NV's (KPN.AE) E-Plus unit in Germany, WirtschaftsWoche says.

Write to Frankfurt Bureau at djnews.frankfur@dowjones.com