Telefónica Germany will use the leased lines from Deutsche Telekom to link up mobile phone masts to its core network. It plans to have the first links in place in the second quarter of 2012, with the remaining links built over the next two years.
The deal has been negotiated to allow Telefónica to prepare for strong growth in data traffic, allowing its O2 mobile network to transmit data at even greater speeds and higher capacity.
Niek Jan van Damme, a Deutsche Telekom board member, spoke of the important of exploiting synergies in the battle to meet the demands of broadband expansion. “Network operators have to work together,” he said. “And Telekom is willing to do that.”
Telefónica Germany reported a strong financial and operating performance last year, with a total customer base of 24.3 million customers. Its mobile customer base grew to 18.1 million customers at the end of September, showing a 9% growth year on year. Telefónica’s O2 brand was named the mobile operator with the most satisfied customers in Germany for the fifth year in succession.
René Schuster, Telefónica Germany’s CEO, said: “The agreement with Telekom gives us the chance to operate cost-efficiently, quickly and flexibly in the rapidly growing market for mobile data.”
