Telefónica Germany is set to use parts of Deutsche Telekom's network infrastructure in future. The two companies have signed a long-term deal which will see Telekom connect up to 2,000 of Telefónica's points of concentration via fibre optics in the next few years. This will allow the O2 mobile network to transmit data at even greater speeds and higher capacity. Using leased lines from Telekom will enable Telefónica Germany to link up the first mobile phone masts to its core network via high-speed data channels as early as the second quarter of 2012. Telefónica Germany will also be able to increase its transmission rates at UMTS and LTE sites significantly in the coming years. "The agreement with Telekom gives us the chance to operate cost-efficiently, quickly and flexibly in the rapidly growing market for mobile data", says Telefónica Germany CEO René Schuster . "So we can offer the best quality in one of the most high-tech mobile networks in Europe." Niek Jan van Damme , Telekom board member responsible for German business, points out: "To be able to exploit synergies in broadband expansion, network operators have to work together. And Telekom is willing to do that". The data of the UMTS and LTE stations at points of concentration distributed throughout Germany will gradually be transferred into Telekom's network infrastructure and transported from there into the O2 core network.
About Deutsche Telekom Deutsche Telekom is one of the world's leading integrated telecommunications companies with more than 128 million mobile customers, 35 million fixed-network lines and approximately 17 million broadband lines (as of September 30, 2011). The Group provides products and services for the fixed network, mobile communications, the Internet and IPTV for consumers, and ICT solutions for business customers and corporate customers. Deutsche Telekom is present in over 50 countries and has around 238,000 employees worldwide. The Group generated revenues of EUR 62.4 billion in the 2010 financial year - more than half of it outside Germany (as of December 31, 2010). Telefónica Germany GmbH & Co. OHG and its brands O2 and Alice belong to Telefónica Europe and are part of the Spanish telecommunication group Telefónica S.A. The Company offers its German private and business customers postpaid and prepaid mobile telecom products as well as innovative mobile data services based on the GPRS and UMTS technologies. In addition, the integrated communications provider also offers DSL fixed network telephony and high-speed internet. "Kundenmonitor Deutschland 2011" honoured Telefónica Germany as the network operator with the most satisfied mobile phone customers in the German market for the fifth time in a row. Telefónica Europe has more than 58 million mobile and fixed network customers in Great Britain, Ireland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Germany.