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Deutsche Telekom CEO Touts 5G Mobile `Revolution' for Services

Deutsche Telekom CEO Touts 5G Mobile `Revolution' for Services

(Bloomberg) -- The ultra-fast fifth generation of wireless technology will be a “revolution” for the telecom industry, spurring new services and revenue models, said Deutsche Telekom Chief Executive Officer Tim Hoettges.

The German former phone monopoly will be able to monetize 5G network investments by providing dedicated software platforms to customers in industries from auto to health care and will benefit from revenue-sharing agreements, Hoettges said in an interview with Bloomberg TV in Munich on Sunday. He cited a sensor-based parking system in Hamburg, where Deutsche Telekom gets a cut of sales, as an example.

“We will not be selling data packages alone -- we are participating in the solution space,” Hoettges said on the sidelines of the DLD tech conference in Munich. “Our ecosystem is changing into a model where we participate on the revenue.”

Deutsche Telekom is among carriers exploring new lines of business -- beyond straight connectivity -- to recoup the massive 5G investments needed to deliver the accelerated, low-latency mobile networks increasingly required by the billions of connected devices that make up the so-called internet of things. The push has intensified with early commercial deployment of 5G technologies among some in the industry targeted for next year.

Read more on the outlook for 5G here

Hoettges said he sees the average person owning six devices hooked to the internet by 2020 and millions of electronic SIM cards making it into cars, factories and machines across Germany.

Separately, the CEO also said it’s key that Europe’s biggest economy gets a new government “as soon as possible” that supports the digital industry so that Deutsche Telekom and its European peers can lead in the IoT space as they compete with Chinese and U.S. rivals.

To contact the reporters on this story: Matthew Miller in Munich at mtmiller@bloomberg.net, Stefan Nicola in Berlin at snicola2@bloomberg.net, Oliver Sachgau in Munich at osachgau@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rebecca Penty at rpenty@bloomberg.net, Alan Mirabella

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.