Telefónica Germany and Deutsche Telekom have signed a deal that will allow Telefónica to use part of the incumbent operator's network to backhaul mobile data traffic. Under the agreement, Deutsche Telekom will link up to 2,000 of Telefónica Germany's points of concentration, where voice and data traffic from various base stations is bundled, to improve mobile network speeds.
A report from Dow Jones Newswires cited a Telefónica spokesperson as saying that the move will enable Telefónica to increase the speed and capacity of its mobile network in Germany and also avoid a costly expansion of its own fixed-line infrastructure. The spokesperson declined to provide financial details of the long-term contract.
"The agreement with [Deutsche] Telekom gives us the chance to operate cost-efficiently, quickly and flexibly in the rapidly growing market for mobile data," Telefónica Germany CEO Rene Schuster said in a statement.
Mobile operators are being forced to look at different options to cope with mobile data backhaul in light of the expected ongoing growth in data services, driven by increased usage of services on smartphones and tablets. While fibre represents probably the most efficient option, it is also an extremely expensive solution if an existing network is not already available, and partnerships are proving to be the preferred option for many operators.
For example, also in Germany Vodafone has said it will accelerate its deployment of LTE through an agreement with euNetworks to use its fibre network for backhaul in Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich.
For more:
- see this Dow Jones Newswires article
- see this Global Telecoms Business article
Related Articles:
Everything Everywhere pours £1.5B into three-year network upgrade plan
Everything Everywhere looks to LTE, m-commerce for growth
Virgin Media denies interest in LTE spectrum, femtocells
3UK, Everything Everywhere boost backhaul to 1Gbps with Virgin Media deal
Vodafone Germany inks fibre backhaul deal for LTE deployment