DT creates Global Business unit; targets cross-border B2B ramp-up

A recent reorganisation at Telekom Deutschland has created a new international business solutions unit that appears to be part of a bigger push into software-defined services for enterprise and operator customers around the world.

The newly integrated unit combines Deutsche Telekom Global Business (DTGB), Telekom Deutschland’s international business-to-business and carrier services arm, with its national and international Solution Sales and Engineering (SSE) organisation, according to a company spokesperson.

Called ‘Global Business & Solution Sales and Engineering’, it is being led by Dirk Lukaschik, formerly Managing Director of DTGB. He was appointed to lead the new department in October and will have a direct report to the Management Board of Telekom Deutschland, via Hagen Rickmann, MD of Business Customers at Telekom Deutschland.

When in gestation, the new unit was known internally as “T-Global”, but the label is understood to no longer be in use, and was only in circulation before an earlier step in the reorganisation saw DTGB absorb Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier, the Group’s international connectivity services business.

A kick-off event was hosted last month by the unit’s SSE Enterprise Network Solution team. An enthusiastic reaction from one of the attendees suggested the gathering discussed go-to-market activities for SD-WAN and SASE.

Höttges eyes cross-border play with Teridion investment

The reorganisation at DTGB coincides with the Group appearing to be recalibrating its international B2B operations in a bid to strengthen its platform for growth around software-based comms services.

In August, Group Chief Executive Timotheus Höttges highlighted that DT was working to “position ourselves” for opportunities around new “global” enterprise connectivity propositions (or “telecoms-as-a-service” offerings, as Höttges coined them), with reference to Ericsson’s Vonage as one player of interest.

Echoing DT’s recent T-IoT services partnership with T-Mobile US, offering standardised support and pricing for IoT deployments across more than 100 countries, he hinted at plans to scale up its international B2B services through “cross-border synergies” (Deutsche Telekomwatch, #112).

Earlier this month, as part of the push, DT announced it had ploughed an additional $25m (£21.1m/€24.1m) equity investment into Israeli startup Teridion to expand its SD-WAN offerings. Telekom Deutschland has been working with Teridion since the beginning of 2022 when it made a strategic investment in the company via its Telekom Innovation Pool funding vehicle (Deutsche Telekomwatch, #111).

Teridion’s virtual connectivity product portfolio is part of Telekom Deutschland’s internet connectivity offerings for enterprises. Taking a stake in the startup is a vote of confidence in the company, and continuing to use its products was said to enable DT to expand its own service offerings internationally. An example is DT’s Premium Internet service that provides “provisioning and operation of corporate networks for business customers globally”.

With the equity investment, Matthias Budde, Senior Vice-President of Group Strategy and Transformation at DT, will join Teridion’s Board of Directors.

Speaking during the Group’s earnings call for the three-month period to 30 September, Höttges indicated he likes Teridion because it operates a virtual software-defined network that gives DT access to 500 points of presence to serve business customers around the world.

“ We do not have to build out infrastructure… We can provide that with Teridion without high capex intensity. This was a handicap in the past and here we suddenly have a global offering. ”

Höttges.

DT Chief Financial Officer Christian Illek also mentioned the Teridion investment during the call, highlighting that it “adds to our service proposition in the B2B space and will also help us to defend our MPLS business”.

Elsewhere during the presentation, Höttges indicated Group leadership had upped focus and planning around broader B2B growth opportunities following completion of the part-sale of wireless infra unit GD Towers to Brookfield Asset Management and DigitalBridge in July 2022. Alongside cross-border offerings, the Group’s priorities include plans to tap Mittelstand digitisation in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland (Deutsche Telekomwatch, #116).