* Six regional contacts are the face of Deutsche Telekom for the municipalities
* In focus: faster connection of cities and municipalities to Deutsche Telekom networks
* Short paths, close dialog, priority in the Board of Management: Deutsche Telekom is getting closer to municipalities
Deutsche Telekom is getting closer to its customers. That is why six contacts are now being authorized to represent the company’s interests at municipal level. These six Group representatives are each responsible for a region in Germany. There they will be the central point of contact for municipalities and their decision-makers.
“With our Group representatives – all of them operationally experienced managers – we’re going to reinforce dialog locally. After all, many cities and municipalities in Germany want a face and a name they can associate with Deutsche Telekom. The more intensive dialog and shorter paths will speed up the buildout of our broadband and mobile communications networks. Our customers in the municipalities will be the main beneficiaries,” says Telekom Deutschland Managing Director Dirk Wössner.
The representatives with their teams will be the first point of contact in the particular region. This specifically involves providing a municipality with access to Deutsche Telekom’s high-speed networks. Certain problems with infrastructure buildout will be resolved even faster with the new structure or even eliminated before they occur. The dialog with local residents is also top of the agenda – with regional contacts taking part in events and citizens’ meetings in the municipalities, for instance.
Speed up buildout projects
Through closer dialog with municipalities the representatives should primarily drive forward buildout projects. After all, it takes around two years on average for a cell tower to be commissioned in Germany. At present, Deutsche Telekom has inspected around 700 locations where it would be happy to set up mobile communications, but has not received approval. “We intend to digitalize Germany – but can’t always do it the way we’d like,” says Dirk Wössner. “That’s why I’m looking forward to even closer dialog with cities and municipalities. Digitalization is detailed and often complicated. It’s only made possible through direct, long-term dialog locally”.
The representatives will report to Telekom Deutschland Managing Director Dirk Wössner and work together closely with Dido Blankenburg, Representative of the Deutsche Telekom Board of Management for Broadband Cooperation. As part of this approach, they will liaise with Wolfgang Kopf and his team. This team is responsible for government relations and is the contact in particular for state governments and policy. With this setup and the recently established municipal advisory council, which advises the Group on municipal issues, Deutsche Telekom is bundling the key political issues surrounding network buildout. It also creates clear responsibilities and ensures the topic receives top priority in the Board of Management.
Even today more than 150 Deutsche Telekom employees for fixed line and mobile communications are engaged in close dialog with cities and municipalities. Deutsche Telekom is therefore not setting up the municipal dialog from scratch, but is now bolstering it through the representatives.