Brussels - The European Union on Friday closed an investigation into companies providing internet connectivity in the bloc, after concluding that they did not illegally hamper competition.
The European Commission, the EU's executive, had carried out unannounced inspections at several firms in July.
It had not named them, but Germany's Deutsche Telekom, France's Orange and Spain's Telefonica had said they were among the targets.
"Following a review of the evidence obtained during the investigation, the commission has come to the provisional view that the observed practices do not appear to breach EU antitrust law," it said in a statement.
The telecommunications companies at issue provide wholesale services, allowing internet providers to connect to all possible web destinations.
The commission said it would "continue to monitor the sector closely," given that interconnection policies may have an impact on "quality of service."