T-Mobile Spells It Out with WiFi

| Feb 17, 2011 | Consumer Services Europe | Analyst: Emma Mohr-McClune

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Event Summary

February 15, 2011 – T-Mobile promises to ‘make the mobile Internet even easier’ with WiFi. The announcement gives an update on various ongoing T-Mobile activities in this area. Highlights include the FlyNet service collaboration with Lufthansa for in-flight WiFi, the project with Deutsche Bahn for on-board train WiFi, an embrace of hotspot finder apps for iPhone and Android OS smartphones, and an ongoing project to collaborate with Orange for WiFi roaming abroad for both operators’ customers. T-Mobile has further stated that WiFi is an important part of the end-user 4G experience.

Quick Take

Analytical Summary

• Current Perspective: Moderate on T-Mobile’s WiFi announcement, as an event which perhaps best articulated a prevailing theme at MWC 2011; the alignment of WiFi with cellular MBB for offload and network enhancement, and the new opportunities for partnership-driven business models all this creates. None of these projects are new. T-Mobile has simply strung them all together, flagged up ongoing roll-outs and adoptions, and confirmed a story for WiFi as an implicit part of the 4G experience. Nonetheless, the event points up solid momentum with an international dimension; extending existing projects both within Germany and abroad.

• Vendor Importance: Moderate to T-Mobile, as this announcement merely confirms a strategic focus on WiFi as an offload and new business model opportunity for the company. This announcement allows T-Mobile to flag its various projects to date, attract interest from new potential partners, and build recognition for WiFi as part of its evolving MBB story.

• Market Impact: Low on the European mobile broadband market, as most operators have similar projects and ambitions for WiFi; this announcement merely gives voice to some of the many opportunities. Critically, this announcement underlines the role of partnerships, collaborations and new business models for WiFi, echoing other recent moves in this market (most notably the launch the O2 WiFi in the UK).

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Current Perspective

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