Telekom Deutschland GmbH (formerly T-Mobile Deutschland GmbH) is a German telecommunications company owned by Deutsche Telekom. Telekom offers landline phone, broadband, IPTV and mobile telephony services. It took its current name after Deutsche Telekom's German consumer fixed-line unit T-Home was merged into T-Mobile Deutschland.[1]

Telekom Deutschland GmbH
FormerlyT-Mobile Deutschland GmbH
Company typePrivate
IndustryTelecommunications
FoundedJuly 1, 1992; 32 years ago (1992-07-01) in Bonn, Germany
Headquarters,
Germany
Area served
Germany
ParentDeutsche Telekom
Websitetelekom.de

As of 2023, it had 17 million fixed-line subscribers and 61 million mobile subscribers, making it the largest mobile network operator in Germany.[2]

History

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Early mobile phone networks in Germany (1985-1994)

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Germany's first mobile-communications services were radiotelephone systems that were owned and operated by the state postal monopoly, Deutsche Bundespost. It launched the analog first-generation C-Netz ("C Network", marketed as C-Tel), Germany's first true mobile phone network in 1985.[3]

On 1 July 1989, West Germany reorganized Deutsche Bundespost[4] and consolidated telecommunications into a new unit, Deutsche Bundespost Telekom.[5][6]

On 1 July 1992, it began to operate Germany's first GSM network under the name De.Te.Mobil Deutsche Telekom Mobilfunk GmbH. It took over the car phone network activities of Deutsche Bundespost which operated B-Netz (until 1994) and C-Netz (until 2000). By the end of 1993, the company had 480,000 customers. [5][7][8] In March 1994, the first SMS was sent over the network.

Privatization and deregulation (1995-2000)

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Deutsche Bundespost Telekom was renamed Deutsche Telekom AG on 1 January 1995 as part of phase two of the German communications reform.[5]

Telekom Deutschland's fixed line operations originated from T-Com, a legal successor to Deutsche Bundespost Telekom. T-Com was created after the German postal reform.[7]

The mobile brand name was changed to DeTeMobil Deutsche Telekom MobilNet GmbH (T-Mobil),[9] while the network was named T-D1. The GSM 900 MHz frequency band was referred to as the "D-Netz".[7]

This deregulation of the German telecommunications industry continued in November 1996, when DT was privatized and had the largest European IPO at the time, with the stock abbreviation 'DT 1'.[5][7][8]

In 1998, T-Mobil was assigned 0170 as an additional area code in addition to 0171 by the Regulatory Authority for Telecommunications and Post (RegTP).

2G and 3G network expansion (2000-2010)

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In June 2000, T-Mobil became the first mobile network operator in the world to launch a GPRS network. The C-Netz network was switched off in the same year.

In February 2002, DeTeMobil Deutsche Telekom MobilNet GmbH was renamed to T-Mobile Deutschland GmbH. In July of the same year, T-Mobile launched the Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS).[10]

On 1 March 2007, then Deutsche Telekom CEO René Obermann announced that the group's brand identity would be radically simplified from summer 2007 onwards meaning T-Home became the universal brand for Deutsche Telekom's fixed-line services.

On 19 June 2007, T-Mobile switched on the High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) network in high density connection areas, it allowed download speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps. In 2008, T-Mobile's EDGE network was upgraded to allow up to 260 Kbps download speeds.

Brand consolidation and LTE expansion (2010-2019)

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On 1 April 2010, T-Home was merged into T-Mobile Deutschland GmbH and the company was renamed as Telekom Deutschland GmbH.[11] On 20 May 2010, Telekom Deutschland participated in the largest German frequency auction to date.

On 1 December 2010, Telekom began testing LTE in Baden-Württemberg and Brandenburg. On 5 April 2011, LTE was launched in the Call & Surf via Funk tariff which was intended as a DSL alternative for areas which have limited fixed-line speeds.

Cologne became the first city in which Telekom enabled the 1800 MHz frequency of LTE, with service launched on 1 June 2010. On 2 November 2010, Telekom enabled HD Voice on their UMTS network.[12]

On 17 June 2014, Telekom announced that they would not charge for LTE roaming in Belgium, France, Italy, Norway, Poland, Spain, or the United Kingdom.[13]

Deployment of 5G network (2019–present)

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On July 3, 2019, Deutsche Telekom launched Germany's first 5G network for customers in Bonn and Berlin.[14]

Wireless networks

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The following is a list of known frequencies that Telekom employs or plans to employ in Germany.[15]

Frequency Technology Generation Status Band
900 MHz GSM 2G Active 8
800 MHz LTE 4G Active 20
900 MHz[16] Active 8
1500 MHz Active 32
1800 MHz Active 3
2100 MHz Active 1
2600 MHz Active 7
700 MHz NR 5G-NSA Under construction[17] n28
2100 MHz Active n1
3,6 GHz Under construction n78

See also

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References

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  1. ^ AG, Deutsche Telekom (2009-11-19). "Deutsche Telekom requests approval for the merger of T-Home and T-Mobile in Germany". www.telekom.com. Retrieved 2024-08-06.
  2. ^ "Germany". Deutsche Telekom Annual Report 2023. Retrieved 2024-08-06.
  3. ^ Goransson, Paul; Greenlaw, Raymond (2011-04-01). Secure Roaming in 802.11 Networks. Newnes. ISBN 9780080548944. Archived from the original on 2021-11-05. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  4. ^ "PostUmwG – nichtamtliches Inhaltsverzeichnis". www.gesetze-im-internet.de. Archived from the original on 2022-04-08. Retrieved 2016-05-25.
  5. ^ a b c d "Deutsche Telekom: Telecommunication milestones". www.telekom.com. 27 July 2023. Archived from the original on 7 October 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  6. ^ "GG – Einzelnorm". www.gesetze-im-internet.de. Archived from the original on 2022-03-31. Retrieved 2016-05-25.
  7. ^ a b c d "Privatization and Deregulation". www1.american.edu. Archived from the original on 2015-05-02. Retrieved 2016-05-25.
  8. ^ a b Waesche, Niko Marcel (2003). Internet Entrepreneurship in Europe: Venture Failure and the Timing of Telecommunications Reform. Edward Elgar Publishing. pp. 162–164. ISBN 978-1-84376-135-8.
  9. ^ "Großkunden-Service: Die T-Mobil verschickt ihre Rechnungen im Edifact-Format". www.computerwoche.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-08-06.
  10. ^ "spinoff.htm". www.sec.gov. Retrieved 2024-10-19.
  11. ^ "T-Home und T-Mobile werden zusammengelegt - Golem.de". 2012-06-20. Archived from the original on 2012-06-20. Retrieved 2024-08-06.
  12. ^ "Deutsche Telekom: Telekom Kunden telefonieren in HD Qualität". 2014-11-01. Archived from the original on 2014-11-01. Retrieved 2024-08-07.
  13. ^ AG, Deutsche Telekom (2014-06-17). "Mit LTE auch im Ausland schneller surfen". www.telekom.com (in German). Retrieved 2024-08-07.
  14. ^ "Germany launches first 5G network – DW – 07/04/2019". dw.com. Retrieved 2024-10-19.
  15. ^ "Telekom Germany 5G - NR, 4G - LTE frequency spectrum bands, 3G - WCDMA, 2G - GSM, FDD, TDD, FR1, FR2 mmWave". www.spectrum-tracker.com. Retrieved 2024-10-19.
  16. ^ hardwareluxx.de
  17. ^ Telekom Medien