German subscribers are already the greatest consumers of mobile data services in Europe. With about 27 million subscribers, T-Mobile Deutschland, the mobile branch of Deutsche Telekom in Germany, holds a healthy share of the market, particularly mobile data services through its T-zones portal. These portals offer access to news, sports, music, games, movies and finance content areas.

To maintain its leading position, T-Mobile has just placed an order with Ericsson for a major upgrade of its 2G network, which was supplied by another vendor, to maintain the quality of service its customers have come to expect and to cut operating expenses.

Joachim Horn, Director of Technology at T-Mobile in Germany, says T-Mobile is at the forefront when it comes to network quality, and it wants to stay that way. "To hold to this path in the future, we are not only relying on innovative broadband technologies such as UMTS and W-LAN, but we are also modernizing the GSM network, which continues to be an important element of our mobile multimedia strategy."

The modernization of the systems will also lead to considerable savings in energy costs and improved network quality. Power costs for the refitted base stations are 30 percent less than for those being replaced, which sits well with T-Mobile's corporate philosophy and public commitment to active environmental management and sustainability.

Under the deal, Ericsson will replace half of T-Mobile's existing GSM radio access network with the latest in GSM/GPRS technology and integrate the components. The modernization, which involves replacing 10,000 base stations, will ensure that T-Mobile can continue to supply its subscribers with competitive mobile data services from its T-zones portal.

Although Ericsson has been a long-time supplier to the T-Mobile Group around the world, this is the first time it has struck a major deal with the parent company in Germany.

Read more on Ericsson’s GSM products here.

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