[nice piece on Siemens, Deutsche Telekom...]
and implied, AMTX and ADSL.
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D. Telekom (FSE:DTEG) not threatened by Internet calls
By Neal Boudette
BONN, May 13 (Reuter) - German phone giant Deutsche Telekom
AG (FSE:DTEG) sees no threat from increasing use of the Internet
for telephone calls, chief executive Ron Sommer said on Tuesday.
"Internet telephony is the opposite of a threat for Deutsche
Telekom -- it is an opportunity," he said at a news conference.
"If Internet telephony ever generates real business, then
Deutsche Telekom will profit to an especially large degree."
Deutsche Telekom was investing in Internet telephony and
expected to profit from linking phone users to the worldwide
computer network, if the market takes off.
"There are huge opportunities for growth," he said. "Big
companies like Deutsche Telekom that can invest in the pipeline
needed for Internet telephony will profit from this devleopment.
Small companies will have a tough time."
GlobaLink of the United States recently said it would
provide international phone service over the Internet in Germany
and aimed to take 25 percent of the international calling
traffic.
Internet telephony could become one of several types of
telecommunications services Telekom provides, Sommer said.
Telekom was already the largest Internet access provider in
Europe, and its T-Online service reached 1.4 million subscribers
in 1996, 400,000 more than in 1995, he said.
The company also had one of the largest networks based on
ISDN tehcnology, a high-speed digital system that can carry
voice, data and video over the same lines. Sommer said the
number of installed ISDN channels iin 1996 rose 89.7 percent to
5.2 million.
Telekom was also expanding its cable television network to
carry multimedia services such as high-speed Internet access.
"Our combined services represent a unique offer as a
package," Sommer said.
A handful of companies, including computer chip maker Intel
Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC), offer products now that let computer users make
phone calls over the Internet to other computer users.
Telephone equipment makers such as Siemens AG (FSE:SIEG) are
working on switches that link existing phone networks to the
Internet so that calls from standard telephones can be routed
over the global computer network. |
