The European Commission yesterday began an investigation into whether telecoms companies were being thwarted in their efforts to buy the audiovisual rights to sports events for 3G mobile phones and the internet.

The ability to relay sports pictures had been described as a "killer application" for third-generation mobile phones, a Commission spokeswoman said.

"We are trying to find out whether the companies which are launching the next generation of mobile phones have any problems buying the rights to sports events," she said.

European commissioner for competition Mr Mario Monti said the inquiry was vital because the launch of 3G networks was expected to take off over the next year.

"The success of the service depends heavily on the operators' ability to deliver attractive audiovisual content," he said. "The task of competition regulators is to ensure that access to sports rights remains open and non-discriminatory."

The Commission said its experience investigating the sale of media rights to the European Champions League football tournament and the English and German premier leagues suggested there was not an open and competitive market for the rights to supply to new media, encompassing both the internet and 3G phones.

Sometimes the new media and mobile telephone rights were bundled together with the television rights and sometimes there were embargoes which favoured television over new media. Sometimes the rights holders would simply refuse to supply audiovisual content to mobile phone operators.

The telecoms companies want to offer services where they could notify a football fan by text message when a goal had been scored, inviting him to download a video replay of the event.

The 3G networks are still in their infancy but 40 operators are expected to launch during the next year. Already 3 (formerly Hutchison 3) is offering subscribers highlights from Champions League matches and "near-live" action of the FA Premier League. 3 and Vodafone UK have jointly acquired the FAPL mobile rights for three seasons from this autumn. 3 and Vodafone Ireland both have UMTS licences in Ireland along with O2.

The Commission will be sending questionnaires to sports organisations and other holders of sports rights, including agencies, broadcasters and mobile phone network operators.

"The aim of the inquiry is to establish whether current commercial practices infringe the European competition rules," a spokeswoman said. The Commission hoped to report its findings by the summer, she said.