Connected life and work drives Deutsche Telekom's strategy

Clare McCarthy/Ovum | March 19, 2010

telecomseurope.net

On 17 March, Deutsche Telekom (DT) announced the next stage of its strategic focus. Its “Fix – Transform – Innovate” strategy will run alongside its “Save for Service” program as DT positions itself as a “global leader in connected life and work”. Behind the announcement, DT also demonstrated that it has a clear tactical and operational plan for continuing to execute its transformation program.

Three years after the previous “focus, fix and grow” strategy was introduced, Francis Deprez, SVP of group strategy and policy for DTAG, announced that DT is ready for the next phase of its strategic direction, which it defines as follows:

fix its mobile-centric assets, ensuring the robustness and efficiency of network infrastructure and businesses
transform the business to ensure it leverages its integrated assets and builds networks and processes for what DT calls the “Gigabit society”
innovate in the areas of connected life across all screens and connected work with unique ICT solutions.

DT’s new strategy is supported by seven core beliefs. Each is backed by a set of projects with defined operational and financial metrics, milestones, and KPIs.

Infrastructure continues to form the basis for business.
NGN and standardized IT will drive efficiency and success.
The mobile Internet and online services present growth opportunities.
Customers expect secure and universal access to all services from all devices.
Cloud computing and dynamic computing offer major potential for growth.
Intelligent networks support the transformation process in industries.
A strong position in national markets is a prerequisite for success.

It’s unsurprising that DT sees its infrastructure as a key value asset; it comes as more of a surprise that it views its network as a means of price differentiation. We are unclear how this will play out in its national market where cable is widespread, or indeed internationally, where competition in the managed network services market is intense. Unquestionably there is value in the provision of an all-IP environment and an NGN able to deal with the “Gigabit society”, both through connectivity and an intelligent infrastructure based on standardized IT platforms and open APIs. DT aims to reduce its proprietary software and have 80% commercial, off-the-shelf ( COTS) penetration by 2015. This should see provisioning times improve and bring further benefits around consumer experience/satisfaction.

Mobile internet and online services opportunities will continue to prove a focus for DT; it is expecting to see combined revenues double in five years, contributing in excess of €12 billion to the company’s revenues. DT sees several routes to market for its online services including its own retail platforms Entertain and Home, APIs, and OTT. It is also looking at how the cloud can be further used to serve the SME community, and how to develop as a delivery partner for the health, media, transport, and energy verticals.

Facebook

Twitter

Digg