OREANDA-NEWS. May 24, 2012. Deutsche Telekom wants to stand out more from its competitors and highlight its innovative strength in future. The Group will fight for every single customer with its own products and those developed in cooperation with partners, with secure cloud services and with high-performance, integrated networks, and live up to its clearly-worded aspiration.

"We aim to be the first choice for connected life and work from our customers' perspective," said Renй Obermann, CEO of Deutsche Telekom, at the shareholders' meeting in Cologne on Thursday. "We will continue to successfully pursue the strategy we introduced in 2010. At the same time, the world and, in particular, our industry have moved forward over the last two years, so we are emphasizing certain aspects of our strategy and integrating new ideas to take account of this."

In its aim to become the first choice for as many customers as possible, the Group is focusing on four strategic action areas:
Integrated networks for the gigabit society
Innovation through collaboration
Secure cloud solutions
Keeping customers delighted

The mobilization of the Internet, the widespread use of smartphones, and the introduction of cloud services even in small to medium-sized businesses and private life are seen as important drivers for a multi-faceted digital daily life. "We have demonstrated that we have the power to stand our ground even in a tough environment - and at the same time, undaunted, press ahead with the Group's transformation," said Mr. Obermann.

The seamless combination of networks makes sure that customers are always optimally connected - wherever they are and regardless of the device they use. With a combination of in-house developments, partnerships, and shareholdings, Telekom is intensifying its cooperation with partners so as to drive business in growth areas. Secure and reliable cloud services are becoming increasingly important for Telekom's business, which is also demonstrated by the current figures for Systems Solutions. Telekom is also facing growing demands in direct contact with customers.

"We need to fight for each and every customer in our core business. Processes need to be streamlined so that Telekom remains competitive in a constantly changing industry," explained Mr. Obermann and added that a renewal of the company was required to be able to tap into growth opportunities, become more innovative and faster. According to him, this is the reason why the Group's Headquarters is being streamlined and organized more efficiently, and why it is necessary to develop employees' skills and attract young talent and experienced experts all over the globe.

The aim still is to compensate for the decline in revenue from traditional telephony, which is caused by regulatory interventions and tough competition, by increasing revenue in other fields. Revenue from strategic growth areas - mobile Internet, Connected Home, Internet services for consumers, external revenue of T-Systems and intelligent networks - is expected to rise to around EUR 29 billion in the years ahead, compared with around EUR 15 billion in 2009. "It was crucial and logical that we set out two years ago to tackle innovation fields beyond traditional fixed-network lines," stated Mr. Obermann. In his view, some of those fields should be accorded the time they need for their development.

Despite the continuing economic crisis in several European countries and despite tough competition in the sector, Telekom is keeping its promise, focusing on dividend stability and reliability. The Board of Management and the Supervisory Board proposed to the shareholders a dividend of EUR 0.70 per share for the 2011 financial year at today's shareholders' meeting. As in the previous year, the 2011 dividend will be tax-free for shareholders in Germany.