DLD09 live

1. Conversation on Communications

   Tags: communication· dld· mobile· telekom  -  0 comments

   [all quotes just very rougly verbal]

   Martin Varsavsky & René Obermann
   
   
   
   

   Obermann:

   In the previous downturn 2002/2003 etc. the mobile market was resilient but that was maybe because of its growth state at that time. But outsourcing might be affected. But right now we see good business.

   The Government has consulted with indistry leaders very early. We wwere part of that and maybe we can also be a part of the solution because we invest globally.

   Of all the productivity growth came directly or indiretly from our sector: ICT.

   An example:
   - We plan to bring broadband (2 Mbit+) to Germany everywhere via cable or mobile.
   - Start investment to VDSL / Fibre to the home

   Why are some ogf the attractive products from the US not offered in germany?

   Obermann:
   We also don't offer some of the services we offer here in the US.
   Generally speaking we have been learning some lessons in europe which we learned in the US earlier: It'S about innovation.

   ?: Is the climate in the USA tougher?
   Obermann: The situation in Europe it is not sustainable: we have far too many carriers and we have consoldiation barriers. On the other side the US are very marketing driven, consumer oriented and very consumer focused and easy to understand. Europe is "too much small print".

   ?: Where are people better off as consumers Berlin or New York?

   Obermann: I don't understand the quenstion, they are best off with T-Mobile. (Laughter.) New York is harder to manage but the serviice has become far better. Berlin is easier to manage.

   ?: What will the crisis do to the finances of Telekom?
   Obermann: We are very confident that we can keep up the targets and the line we reached last year. Maybe a slightly better result. We made our homework in the last years. we took alsomost 4 billion of costs out of the operation. we are very solidly financed. Our liquidity is very good: bout 40% of our net debts. [I might have misunderstoood, don't buy or sell stock, OK? - OG]
   We recently aquired companies for 6-7 billion to rech new markets like in Southeastern (?) Europe.

   We don't do strategy once a year, more every 2-3 months. We have a long term strategy but we review it often.

   ?: What is the effect of revenues for currencies going down, like the Pound?

   Obermann: I consider the Euro a great thing. It makes business easier. I hope that the Euro stays a strong currencies. The weak Dollar cost us 1 billion in revenues, but we compensated. (...)

   ?: Why hasn't pricing by the minute vanished in the 90ies? Why do borders still play a role? Will minutes and roaming disappear.

   Obermann: It will just take longer than you thought. I thought mobile (Internet?) would come in 2002. Roaming will be a way to become competitive, but mayn peple are rather protective.

   ?: Is Facebook a operating system to getr a long or even a telecom operator. Zuckerberg mentioned it was 'connecting peple'. Are the customers of T-Mobile a social network or can you make them feel that way?

   Oberman: Last wear we hat 14 Bullion SMS protected, more people keep their phones always on. In a wayx we have a community, but eventually it will be global. You can already make calls and send SMS from Facebook to t_Mobile.

   ?: Did you think of buying StudiVZ.
   O: I would not say no. But we are a partner to many comanies and not be tied to one.

   ?: Do you think Germany first?
   Obermann: With 40% Germany thius is a strong component, but it should not be dominant in our thinking.

   ?: What about Micropayment?
   Obermann: The price to add micropayment to an existing mobile contract is not a problem and it will be part of the mobile future.

   Obermann: We need enterpreneurial spirit in our force, so if you are interested in it, let's talk. Many people did not want to be part of a big company with rules and processes. But today I think we have room for entrepreneurs. Mayn of the entrepreneurs whose comapnies we acquired we were ably to retain.

   ?: Can you imagine Youtube to pay you to transport their content?
   Obermann: In a way they already do, the customers pay us to have access to the net and its content with different access devices. We want to make our customers happy. In some years we will see so much demand for bandwith the mobile carriers will sit on a scarce resource. The amount of spectrum available is not enough. We will have a mixture of ?[protocols]? and it will be hybrid.

   ?: What about netbooks? Now they are sold like mobiles.
   Obermann: Dongles and netbooks were sold extremely well. The Internet becomes mobile and will have a larger impact on peoples lies that the Internet had so far.

   

   Oliver Gassner
   The present and future of Telekom.

   January 26, 2009
   05:02 PM