German incumbent Deutsche Telekom is on the lookout for partnerships with operators, energy and media companies as a part of the expansion of its broadband services, according to media reports.
Bloomberg reported yesterday that DT’s head of German…
German incumbent Deutsche Telekom is on the lookout for partnerships with operators, energy and media companies as a part of the expansion of its broadband services, according to media reports.
Bloomberg reported yesterday that DT’s head of German operations, Niek Jan van Damme, had told journalists that the telco wanted partnerships with media companies in order to encourage customers to join faster, pricier broadband schemes.
According to the report, DT will need cooperation agreements with other telcos and utility companies in order to hit its target of reaching four million people with its fibre network by the end of 2012.
A DT spokesperson told TelecomFinance that all possible co-operations depend on the local market situation and various other criteria. She also said that it needed to fulfil two key prerequisites: “better network quality and a decrease in cost”.
She noted the network venture between Everything Everywhere (a JV between DT and France Telecom) and 3 in the UK, as well as the fact that DT had signed a letter of intent to enter a network sharing agreement in Poland.
She would not rule out whether similar network sharing agreements would be warranted in other countries.
DT said in a statement yesterday that it preferred the FTTH method of delivering broadband, but that modern buildings are a prerequisite for this method.
Van Damme said that regulation that was friendly to investment was crucial for the expansion of FTTH networks.
He said: “It must be possible to use all existing infrastructure, such as cable conduits from other grid industries or even building networks, to save costs and capture synergy potential.
“We also have to avoid a patchwork of local fibre-optic networks in Germany, which means the industry has to agree to mutual, open network access.”