On Tueaday, Vivendi Universal SA, France’s second- largest telephone-service provider, filed a lawsuit in a Paris court against Deutsche Telekom AG seeking as much as $2.8 billion in damages from the latter.

Vivendi demands from Deutsche Telekom to compensate its breaking off the talks with Elektrim regarding to the sale of 51% of Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa last year.

Vivendi alleged Deutsche Telekom in September 2004 ``without notice and proper cause’’ dropped negotiations related to a sale of a 51% holding in Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa Sp. z o.o., Poland’s largest mobile-phone company.

Deutsche Telekom in February said that it exercised a call option to buy Elektrim’s stake in PTC.

Vivendi claimed the German telecoms operator was determined to buy PTC shares using "unlawful" methods.Vivendi said it is going to expang its presence in Poland.

In February, Vivendi was stripped out of its PTC shares by a Warsaw court ruling.

The moves influenced the stocks of both companies in a negative way as Deutsche Telekom shares dropped 1% in Frankfurt, and Vivendi shares fell 0.4% in Paris.