European heavyweights Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom are discussing wide reaching collaboration agreements in a bid to cut development costs.
Agreements covering Wi-Fi user experience and machine-to-machine (M2M) technology are the first of several potential collaborations the firms have already identified.
The pair believes collaboration is essential to “address new growth opportunities as well as operational efficiency issues,” Elie Girard, VP of strategy and development at France Telecom stated.
Also on the agenda is European network sharing, M2M service quality, multi-country e-Health facilities, and a technical collaboration to develop home media servers
Operators are under increasing pressure to improve service quality and make it easier for subscribers to access services, Ed Kozel, Deutsche Telekom’s chief technology officer noted.
Deutsche Telecom subsidiary T Mobile UK and France Telecom's UK unit, Orange UK, merged last year via the creation of new joint venture Everything Everywhere.
Talk of collaboration among telcos isn’t new, but actually putting the words into action is. Carriers seem increasingly aware that working together cuts expenditure, at a time when all eyes are on cost cutting.
Carriers including BT and Telenor are focusing cost reduction, while rising costs battered Australian incumbent Telstra’s 4Q – cutting profit 36%.