Deutsche Telekom maps out its future

Putting to one side the maelstrom of speculation surrounding the future of T-Mobile UK, its parent company, Deutsche Telekom has just announced a radical overhaul of its business structure that tells much about the future direction for telecoms operators.

As traditional revenue streams for fixed and mobile come under increasing pressure, partly driven by the economic downturn, operators are scrambling to find how they can maximise their core assets through improved efficiencies and innovative marketing.

Deutsche Telekom (DT) has taken the decision to restructure its business by integrating its fixed and mobile ventures so that all services can be built, managed and marketed from a single blueprint, rather than in the standalone business units. Key to this move, according to a review conducted by Ovum, was the greater transparency of the customer's total communications requirements and usage patterns, as well as enabling further possibilities for bundling and convergence.

But this integration of business units (albeit often fraught with problems) is part of the transformation underway in many other telcos as they shift from multiple legacy networks to single next-generation networks. Telefonica and Telstra are examples where this process is already underway, albeit not being conducted in such a public manner as with DT.

However, this is less about technology migration and more about aligning the company around satisfying customer needs by providing a one-stop shop experience, and DT should benefit from the synergies and cost saving that this integration process brings with it. -Paul