Deutsche Telekom announced a raft of new service bundles and network developments at the IFA consumer electronics show on Friday, as the German incumbent firmly placed its bets on the convergence of fixed and mobile services, throwing down the gauntlet to rival operators in the process.
The operator unveiled the "MagentaEINS" portfolio of fixed and mobile services, offering fixed, TV and mobile services within a single plan, with small, medium and large options available. The name of the service portfolio also plays on the traditional "magenta" colour of Deutsche Telekom's well-known "T" brand combined with four dots.
"Telekom's new packages mark its entry into a new growth market," the company said in a release. "Some 22 million fixed network connections and 40 million mobile customers show the market potential for Deutsche Telekom as an integrated telecommunications provider."
The MagentaEINS tariffs range from €49.90 a month for a package of mobile and fixed services to €64.85 for mobile services, fixed broadband with speeds of up to 100 Mbps, and an Entertain Premium package with more than 45 HD channels. Top ups and additional extras are also available, including the option to add more SIM cards in order to share data between different devices, for example.
MagentaEINS forms the lynchpin of the company's new campaign, called "the future is ONE". Mobile services will also be marketed under MagentaMobil, while other packages and services will be available under MagentaZuhause (at home), MagentaEntertainment, MagentaWohnen (living), MagentaService and MagentaArbeitswelten (work).
"MagentaEINS is the core of an entirely new product portfolio that will cover the full telecommunications spectrum offered to customers," Deutsche Telekom said.
In a separate announcement, the operator also unveiled what it claimed to be the world's first hybrid Internet connection for consumers from a service provider. The new Speedport Hybrid router, scheduled for launch later this year, will automatically combine landline and mobile network bandwidths.
Fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) is a key strategy for most leading players in Europe's telecoms markets, and indeed is the reason behind recent purchases of fixed and cable assets by former mobile-only players such as Vodafone.
With such a strong FMC play, Deutsche Telekom is gearing up to compete on a market that will soon consist of only three major telecoms players, once Telefónica Deutschland has completed the acquisition of E-Plus.
Vodafone Germany has already signalled its FMC intentions with the purchase of Kabel Deutschland, which has added high-speed cable access to the operator's service mix.
Speaking in Berlin at the IFA event, CEO Jens Schulte-Bockum boasted that Vodafone Germany's broadband speeds will soon be double those offered by Deutsche Telekom. According to Bloomberg, Schulte-Bockum said Vodafone will start selling broadband access speeds of up to 200 Mbps from November, based on its new cable assets.
Telefónica Deutschland also sells fixed and mobile services under the O2 brand, but will need to step up its convergence play to meet the challenges presented by its two rivals.
For more:
- see the IFA releases from Deutsche Telekom
- see this Bloomberg article
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