Deutsche Telekomwatch Report #7 January 2012 Executive Brief
10 February 2012
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- GROUP: Local reports in Germany suggest a further change is pending for Deutsche Telekom’s Management Board, with ThyssenKrupp’s Thomas Kremer having apparently been lined up to succeed Manfred Balz as the Group’s Director of Legal Affairs and Compliance. Balz, whose contract is reportedly coming to an end later in 2012, will join Edward Kozel and Guido Kerkhoff in exiting the board over the last 12 months. [p.4.]
- Two new companies — Samsung Electronics, and photovoltaic system installation specialist Winkel Solarsysteme — joined the Group’s networked home partnership drive, agreeing to integrate products with the Smart Connect home-networking platform that DT plans to release later in 2012. [p.6.]
- Group investment arm T-Venture furthered its recent string of portfolio additions, joining a financing round in Berlin-based online video-marketing specialist clipkit. [p.6.]
- GERMANY: Telekom Deutschland continued targeting of cable rivals by partnering with regional multi-play service provider NetCologne, to extend its fibre service footprint. Elsewhere, it opposed the recent merger between cable operators Kabel Baden Württemberg and UnityMedia, saying that regulatory concessions do not go far enough to protect competition. However, it was suggested that the OpCo may itself face a legal challenge if, as mooted, it seeks to bid for broadcast and cable distribution rights to Bundesliga football matches. [pp.8, 12.]
- T-Mobile Deutschland, and rivals Telefónica O2 and Vodafone, declared plans to perform the Group’s first RCS-e platform launch in the coming months, amid ongoing operator attempts to counter over-the-top incursions. [pp.10, 11.]
- EUROPE: Activity around European mobile broadband evolution continued, with AMC flagging the addition of Dual Carrier HSPA+ services, and T-Mobile Croatia reportedly launching a tender for Long Term Evolution equipment, ahead of a planned rollout later in 2012. Huawei Technologies and Nokia Siemens Networks landed deals to enable the infrastructure revamp planned by T-Mobile Poland, as part of its network-sharing partnership with Orange Poland. Meanwhile, Everything Everywhere extended its LTE trial programme with BT Wholesale, and initiated a EUR500m bond issue to support future investment. [pp.13, 17, 23, 26, 27.]
- DT received a further macro blow in eastern Europe, after Croatia’s new government reinstated the country’s 6% “crisis” tax on mobile services, adding to the growing economic and regulatory pressures impacting Hrvatski Telekom. The move came as HT flagged plans to lay off around 7% of its headcount, as part of “necessary business optimisation” efforts. [pp.15, 16.]
- Further setbacks came in: Romania, where new mobile termination rate reductions were laid out by the regulator; and in Hungary, where it was confirmed that a controversial new state-controlled consortium will indeed become the market’s fourth mobile player, following its long-delayed 900MHz frequency sell-off. [pp.20-22.]
- OTE indicated that satellite communications subsidiary HellasSat could be its next asset to be offloaded, as it continues efforts to reduce its unsettling EUR5bn-plus debt overhang. [p.20.]
- EE launched a long-overdue push to better define and differentiate its Orange- and T-Mobile-branded service offerings, launching separate advertising campaigns for each arm, and releasing a new family of “unlimited” service plans to boost T-Mobile’s value-led positioning. Meanwhile, EE’s Orange UK arm — which is to be pitched as the provider that “goes the extra mile” on services — continued to flag activity around mobile health applications, tying with UK specialist Care in Motion on a BlackBerry OS-based remote information access solution for the sector, and claiming positive impact of an appointment reminder tool delivered to Barts and The London NHS Trust. [p.24.]
- SYSTEMS SOLUTIONS: T-Systems highlighted a renewed drive to increase its (and Deutsche Telekom’s) relatively low-profile in emerging markets, flagging plans to shift 1, 500 jobs away from Germany, in a bid to relieve cost pressures and find new customers. [pp.28, 29.]
- USA: T-Mobile USA mooted plans to initiate HSPA +84 technology later in 2012, as part of a wider review of its operations following the collapse of merger plans with AT&T. [pp.32, 33.]
About Deutsche Telekomwatch
Report: #7
Covering: January 2012
Published: February 2012
Next report: March 2012
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