Deutsche Telekom said almost 1.5 million customers had subscribed to fixed and mobile plans under the MagentaEINS packages, and unveiled further enhancements to its quadruple-play offering in a bid to attract more users.
At the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin this week, the German operator announced the launch of "MagentaEINS 4.0", which includes larger data volumes, higher data speeds and new "starter rates" for new entrants and families.
Niek Jan van Damme, a member of the Deutsche Telekom management board, said the company believed the new plans would set it further apart from the competition.
"We are steadily expanding the world of MagentaEINS. We launched MagentaEINS for the consumer segment in September of last year and for business customers in March of this year. In May, we introduced an EU flat rate exclusively for MagentaEINS customers, and today we are launching our family offering," said van Damme.
In detail, the mobile plans (MagentaMobil) included in the packages will provide higher LTE speeds of up to 300 Mbps on the downlink for premium plans, with 150 Mbps still provided for lower cost plans. Inclusive data allowances have been increased to a maximum of 10 GB under the MagentaMobil plans, while data under the Complete Premium rate has been boosted from 20 GB to 30 GB. Prices remain unchanged, and range from €29.95 ($33) for the low-usage rate to €149.95 a month for the 30 GB premium plan.
In order to target different market demographics and attract new entrants, Deutsche Telekom has also launched two basic rates under MagentaMobil Start and Family Card Start to which users can add data options as required. The launch of the two new rates for a monthly base fee of €2.95 is accompanied by a new campaign with the slogan "EINS für den Start" ("ONE to start with").
The German operator first unveiled the MagentaEINS strategy at last year's IFA as it geared up to compete on a market that now consists of only three major telecoms players after Telefónica Deutschland completed the acquisition of E-Plus. Since then, the company has also extended its quad-play strategy to Romania, Slovakia and Hungary.
Fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) and so-called quad-play offerings have been available from a number of incumbent players in Europe for some time. More recently, the strategy has gained prominence as mobile and fixed operators seek ways of adding new services in order to boost revenue and retain customers.
Speaking to FierceWireless:Europe for a special report to be published next week on Europe's leading quad-play markets, Natasha Rybak, an analyst at Current Analysis, noted that operators such as KPN and Deutsche Telekom have taken a different approach from companies such as Orange France, which offers integrated fixed-mobile bundles under Orange Open. Instead, the Dutch and German incumbents encourage customers to subscribe (separately) to both fixed and mobile services and packages through the use of compelling incentives.
For more:
- see Deutsche Telekom's releases from IFA
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