OXFORD, United Kingdom-The game of musical chairs between telecom operators vying for a stake in the lucrative German market seems to have slowed down. There is now some semblance of stability following the launch of E2, Germany’s fourth mobile phone network, at the end of September. E2 is a GSM 1800 network run by Viag Interkom, a joint venture between Viag A.G. (45 percent), British Telecommunications plc (45 percent) and Telenor (10 percent).
Sir Peter Bonfield, chief executive of BT, was quoted by Reuters as being happy with the Viag Interkom venture. “In this business you don’t have to be first or big. You have to be innovative and fast,” he said. Not a philosophy most people would associate with BT.
E2 is certainly not first or big. Two GSM 900 networks have been operating in Germany since 1992, Deutsche Telekom’s D1 and Mannesmann’s D2, now with 4.7 million and 5 million subscribers respectively. GSM 1800 operator E-Plus launched service in 1994 and now has 1.6 million subscribers.
E2 doesn’t seem too fast or innovative either. Network rollout reportedly is seven months behind schedule, although the network does incorporate enhanced full rate (EFR) capability. Market strategy on launch was to offer low local call rates. The other operators immediately cut their prices.
But Viag Interkom is also a fixed network operator in Germany. Perhaps there are some fixed mobile convergence offerings in the pipeline.
