Deutsche Telekom to rollout fiber optic network, new products, services.(BROADBAND BEAT)

Deutsche Telekom will invest some 3 billion [euro] ($3.7 billion) over the next few years to deploy an optical fiber network with speeds of up to 50 Mbps in Germany. This step and the merger of T-Online with Deutsche Telekom are part of the company's effort to provide German consumers with triple-play services--high-speed Internet access, top-quality fixed and mobile telephony and "individually accessible" entertainment offerings. The company will also significantly increase the speed of broadband access via its mobile phone network.

T-Com, T-Mobile and T-Online, the company's consumer facing operations, showcased innovative devices like a dual phone plus new services and rate options in the run-up to the Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA) trade show in Berlin.

"We are perceived as an intelligent integrated telecommunications group and our philosophy is clear: first the customer, then the technology," said Deutsche Telekom chairman Kai-Uwe Ricke. "At the same time, we are also convinced that there is not 'just one' customer, either in the consumer or the business customer segment. We must target a range of different customer groups and interests with a variety of products. We are now making tomorrow happen."

One Line Connects to Muldimedia World

Walter Raizner, a member of the board of management responsible for broadband/fixed network at Deutsche Telekom, talked about "joining the top group of broadband states" in referring to plans to construct a high-speed network. The company intends to provide the country's 50 largest cities with high-speed broadband lines by 2007, speeds up to 50 Mbps. The first cities will be connected by 2006, enabling 2.9 million homes to connect.

"Our vision is to give the customer access via one single line--i.e. our broadband connection --to the wealth of the multimedia world, using a range of devices: at present telephones, televisions, PCs, video telephones and multimedia boxes. The benefits of this for our customers are obvious. They will have easy access to super fast Internet, video, games offers, high-quality general entertainment and interactive learning," said Raizner.

A few hundred participants can participate in pilot trials in Stuttgart und Hamburg with high speeds up to 25 Mbps for six weeks free of charge.

Increased Wireless Broadband Speed

The company will also increase the speeds of broadband access on its mobile phone network. Rene Obermann, member of the board of management responsible for mobile communications at Deutsche Telekom, said the faster service will be available wherever T-Mobile already offers coverage. He said the company would offer a high-speed mobile experience outside its WLAN network, which offers access to 16,500 hotspots worldwide.

Speeds, Obermann said, will initially increase to up to 1.8 Mbps and will gradually increase to up to 7.2 Mbps. These higher speeds will permit complex intranet applications to run, Internet pages to be accessed quickly and significantly reduce the time spent waiting for pages to load.

Deutsche Telekom is also deploying fixed-mobile convergence, which, for example, avoids having duplicate contracts, bills, answer phones and address books.

T-Mobile is developing a new product called mobile@home for customers that also want to use their cell phone at fixed-network rates within their homes. The service also lets customers receive calls on their cell phone while at home at inexpensive fixed-network rates as well as make cheap calls from their cell phone at home via Germany's fixed-line network.

The company defines the home as the area up to two kilometers (1.2 miles) from the home structure itself. The offer will be launched commercially in the first quarter of 2006.

Dual Phones

Further blurring the lines between landline and cell phones, the company is also coming out with a new device called a dual phone, which exemplifies the fixed-network convergence. It promises the benefits of a landline--low per-minute rate, reliability and sound quality--with the mobility of a cell phone, all on the same device. It will give consumers a single phone number, a single bill and a single point of contact.

At home, customers make calls through the landline network just as they now do. At a Wi-Fi hotspot such as a coffee shop or airport, users access the Internet via a wireless network. On the go, customers make calls using the standard GSM technology that cell phones use.

Dual phones allow users to continue using their DSL/wireless LAN hardware and new services such as synchronizing with the Outlook address book, video telephony or access--even on the go--to centrally stored MP3 files on their PC. The device is to be launched in Q2 of next year.

Another convergent product is the enhanced version of the T-Box. Starting on October 1, T-Com will be offering customers the option of answering calls not only for their own landline number, but also for mobile numbers, irrespective of the mobile provider. Regardless of whether the call is made to the landline or mobile line, it will be forwarded to the same voicemail--the T-Box. This means that T-Net customers only need to listen to their message on one answer phone--and even that is free.

Another future-oriented T-Com product is the SIP phone, which combines voice and video communication in one device. In addition to conventional telephone calls and conferences, it is also possible to receive video messages and look the person being called in high-definition quality.

E-mails, faxes, SMS and MMS messages are downloaded with a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone and stored by a central "answering machine." The device also offers fast access to numerous information and entertainment services: the latest headlines, traffic information, emergency service information, and shopping and activity tips. Games are also available. SIP technology allows the exchange of voice and data over an IP network. TV via cell phone

The company's T-Online operation says it's making a "significant move" toward digital media communication and entertainment from a single source with the "T-Online S 100" box, which delivers home entertainment via DSL Internet access. The device, known as an IP streaming set-top box, is included in the T-Online Vision package together with a splitter for connection to both the DSL network and the Speedport W 500V--a combination of DSL modem, router and DSL phone adapter. The T-Online Vision package will be available for purchase as a starter deal for 49.95 [euro] ($61.92) starting in November.

Ringtones have become popular with mobile phone users, and Deutsche Telekom is taking the phenomenon a step further. The company plans to offer ringtones and more for its landline phones. Its "Music & Fun" service will offer ringtones, sound logos, greeting messages, background sounds and jingles as well as cult ringtones. Musical hits, anthems and film soundtracks can be ordered.

T-Mobile already offers a service called "web'n'walk" that allows cell phone users to access the Net when using Internet-optimized mobile devices. The service is now available in Germany and Austria and will be available during the next year in Great Britain, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.

"With web'n'walk we are giving vital impetus to mobile Internet usage," said Obermann. "We are paving the way to free Internet for our mobile customers." web'n'walk lets customers click onto their favorite sites wherever they happen to be, retrieve information and subscribe to entertainment offers. The company says it expects all its data-enabled cell phones will be web'n'walk devices in five years' time.

In addition to the free Internet services web'n'walk and Mobile TV, music is another market segment the company's T-Mobile operation is focused on. T-Mobile gives fans the opportunity to download and listen to exclusive content before it is released and to place images of their favorite star on their cell phones. The initial services, such as ringtones, sound logos and song clips are already available at IFA. The Sony Ericsson Walkman W800i provides optimal support for this content.

T-Mobile will be cooperating with the market-leading Musicload online music service from T-Online in the future. This enables entire pieces of music to be downloaded with high sound quality to cell phones like the Nokia 6680, the MDA com-pact and the SDA II. Over 300,000 full titles are currently available in the "online record shop." At Christmas, additional offers will be available on the popular iTunes platform.

The Family Whiteboard is one of the first products from the T-Com House to be introduced on the market. This interactive electronic bulletin board simplifies everyday household organization. Each user has their own personal mailbox, where messages can be left--by e-mail, SMS, MMS or phone call.

Anyone leaving the house can call up a variety of information about, for example, current bus and train departures, the weather or the latest stock exchange prices. A pilot test will be under way from the end of 2005 for 200 families and households.

The PC games market is a rapidly developing growth sector. T-Online is one of the first major providers to launch Gamesload, a digital online shop for full-version PC games, enabling users to download numerous latest games and try them out for a limited period before they buy. This gives players the chance to test the software on their own PC before purchasing.

Deutsche Telekom and other telecom outfits showed their goodies at the Internationale Funkausstellung in Berlin from September 2-5. Deutsche Telekom's motto for the show was "Winning Together" and its theme was based on the 2006 World Cup.