Relax 1000, Max and Xtra Smart are the names of the new rates on offer at T-Mobile. For customers who wish to make inexpensive calls to all mobile networks, T-Mobile offers the new Relax 1000 package. People who spend a lot of time on the phone can now place calls to all German networks for as little as six cents per minute. Relax 1000 is available for a monthly fee starting at EUR 59 – with 1000 minutes’ worth of free mobile calls included. Max, the flat rate for calls to the German fixed-line network and to the T-Mobile network, now allows contract customers to make an unlimited number of calls and send an unlimited number of text messages to the T-Mobile network – for only EUR 35 a month. And T-Mobile prepaid customers can make calls to the German fixed-line network or to within their own network for nine cents per minute by selecting the new Xtra Smart rate and topping up their Xtra account by at least EUR 30.

“With our new rates, we are offering customers in all segments mobile telephony with relevant features for each of the groups for less than ten cents,” says Philipp Humm, Managing Director at T-Mobile Deutschland. “The aim of these �carefree packages’ is to increase mobile-phone use, which is why our offerings are excellent value for money.”

Relax 1000 – Mobile calls to all networks for as little as six cents per minute
Relax 1000 contains 1000 inclusive minutes of phone time per month. This new rate module within T-Mobile’s Relax portfolio is available for a price starting at EUR 59 – the price for the deal excluding the purchase of a subsidized handset. Assuming the Relax 1000 budget is made full use of, the mobile-call minute will now cost less than six cents. In conjunction with the purchase of a handset for a subsidized price, the monthly T-Mobile price for the Relax 1000 rate is EUR 68 – in which case subscribers who make full use of the Relax 1000 budget pay a mere 6.8 cents per minute. As with all Relax rates, subscribers can spend their time budget around the clock every weekday for calls to within the entire German fixed-line network and to all German mobile networks. This new rate replaces the Relax 600 package which T-Mobile previously offered for EUR 79 per month. For EUR 20 less, the Relax 1000 package now offers 400 minutes of additional phone time, so that the price for each minute included in the package has essentially been reduced by more than 50 percent. The price per minute of phone time once the budget has been exhausted is 29 cents, with text messages to domestic numbers costing only 19 cents. The price for the Relax 400 package has also been reduced. Containing 400 minutes of phone time, this package will be available as of September 1 at EUR 49 excluding the purchase of a sub-sidized handset and EUR 54 including the purchase of a subsidized hand-set. It will therefore be priced five euros less than the offering to date.

Max – The flat rate for calls to the German fixed-line network or the T-Mobile network
The monthly basic charge of only EUR 35 for the Max package covers mo-bile calls to the German fixed-line network and the T-Mobile network. This basic monthly charge also covers all text messages transmitted internally within the network. Calls to the T-Mobile and the German fixed-line networks and text messages to more than 30 million T-Mobile customers then cost zero cents. Access calls to mobile mailboxes and calls to the T-Mobile ser-vice center which the subscriber places domestically using his mobile phone, are free of charge, as well. The Max package also includes a T-Mobile@home fixed-line number. With this number, Max customers will be available to callers on their mobile phone at fixed-line prices within a two-kilometer T-Mobile@home radius. The basic monthly charge for the Max package of EUR 35 is valid for contracts not involving the purchase of a subsidized new handset. Customers who wish to use the option of purchasing a subsidized handset pay EUR 44 per month. Calls to other mobile networks cost 29 cents and text messages 19 cents.

Xtra Smart – Prepaid customers also pay less than ten cents
With the new Xtra Smart rate, T-Mobile prepaid customers now pay nine cents per minute for calls to the German fixed-line and the T-Mobile networks. Calls to other domestic mobile networks are also inexpensive in this package, priced at only 29 cents per minute. The condition is that customers top up their Xtra account by at least EUR 30, after which these attractive prices per minute will be valid for one month starting on the date the account was topped up. After that, the price per minute is 29 cents to internal net-work numbers and the German fixed-line network, and 49 cents to other mobile networks.

Save extra VAT charge
All customers who book the Max, Relax, or Basix (entry-level) rates or who choose the prepaid Xtra Smart, Xtra Friends or Xtra Classic rates will also profit from a special form of price stability as of January 1, 2007. For these customers, the package price, minute price, and price for a text message will remain stable in spite of the raised rate of VAT, since T-Mobile will not be adding the cost of extra VAT to its price. The new VAT rate will, of course, be set out on customer invoices, however. T-Mobile will specify a net price amount on invoices that will see the gross charges due in the new year unchanged from those in 2006.

All package and minute prices detailed above exclude the cost of calls to special and service numbers. The minimum subscription period for Max and Relax packages is 24 months. Relax 1000 will be available as of September 1, 2006, Max and Xtra Smart will be launched on October 4, 2006. Max and Relax rates are also available for business customers.

The DVB-H pilot project launched by E-Plus, O2, T-Mobile and Vodafone has demonstrated the future potential of handset TV. In an initial showcase phase, the four network operators have spent three months since the end of May providing Berlin, Hamburg, Hanover and Munich with an extensive TV programme offering on the basis of the DVB-H standard. Both Federal and Länder authorities, as well as the regional media authorities primarily responsible for the granting of frequencies, are now being called on to enable a rapid implementation of the service and of broad market access.

The mobile handset television pilot project in the DVB-H standard (Digital Video Broadcasting Handheld), which was launched for the football World Cup by the German mobile operators E-Plus, O2, T-Mobile and Vodafone, has successfully demonstrated its performance capabilities. Over a period of three months, interested users became convinced of the fascinating potential of the new technology. Around 1,000 test devices were made available in total, including both prototypes and pre-series devices from various manufacturers. In connection with the stable technical operating platform, the response from participants was extremely positive. Whether they were at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, in the Olympic Stadium in Munich, on the banks of the Alster River in Hamburg or in the “fan mile” in Hanover, users were impressed by excellent picture quality, good reception and an extensive range of programs. Cooperation with the broadcasters was very successful.

As a result of this shared project, the four network operators have demonstrated convincingly how much potential there is in handset TV or, in other words, the terrestrial transmission of TV programmes and multimedia services to handsets via radio frequencies. The operators are focusing on the groundbreaking DVB-H technology that already enables the transmission of TV and radio programmes on 16 channels. In future, DVB-H will offer the potential to transmit up to 40 programs to a practically unlimited number of handset users. In the case of DVB-H, data transmission rates for content are being adapted to the possibilities for handset display presentation and available battery performance. Another interesting development is the potential future connection of DVB-H and GPRS/UMTS-based mobile telephone applications that create added value for users: for example, the feedback channel that runs via the mobile telephone data networks will make it possible to enable interactive program formats and deliver additional programme information. All four network operators are convinced of the fact that handset TV based on DVB-H can be developed into a genuine success model. For instance, interactive entertainment and information formats could provide positive impulses for Germany as an educational and business location.

At the IFA (Internationale Funkausstellung), the international consumer electronics trade fair in Berlin, visitors will again be able to experience for themselves the quality of DVB-H. The four operators will be demonstrating the technology at the IFA, at the Technical-Scientific Forum stand (Technisch-Wissenschaftliches Forum).

The DVB-H pilot project has confirmed that handset television offers a high degree of innovation and market potential for the German market. The prerequisites for exploiting these future opportunities are at hand: besides the already established acceptance by future users, this technology enjoys the support of the leading handset manufacturers. Among others, BenQ Siemens, Motorola, Nokia, Sagem and Samsung are focusing on the new technology. An operator consortium of E-Plus, O2, T-Mobile and Vodafone, which is currently being put in place, is intended to facilitate the efficient use of frequencies and the rapid opening of the mobile TV market. This planned shared venture does not intend to generate its own media content but instead will offer mobile telephone company subscribers existing television programs via the new transmission network and will develop innovative formats in co-operation with the programme suppliers.

In order to be able to develop a broad product spectrum for handset television in Germany, a suitable network infrastructure must be created and maintained. The German mobile network operators are at their starting positions and are ready to invest millions to meet this objective. However, in order to ensure a rapid and comprehensive introduction of DVB-H, the requisite statutory planning security must be created. This means that transmission frequencies must be made available across the whole of Germany and a harmonised regulatory framework must be created for this innovative service.

The relevant authorities need to implement decisions soon if Germany is to avoid falling further behind its international competitors. For example, DVB-H has already been launched in Italy on a commercial basis and it is about to be launched in Finland. In this respect, Germany has already relinquished the role it established as innovation leader, when it gained the distinction of running the first technical pilot projects in 2004. This makes an adjustment of broadcasting media policy that enables a rapid opening up of the handset television market an even more urgent priority than ever.

T-Mobile Deutschland is pressing ahead with the expansion of its offer for mobile broadband applications for laptops. Germany’s leading mobile communications provider is launching its cooperation agreement with technology provider HP with a low-priced special offer package consisting of a notebook, a web’n'walk Card and a mobile data contract. With the HP Compaq nx7400 Business Notebook PC and via the web’n'walk Card plus the T-Mobile UMTS network, subscribers can work with the intranet or access information on the Internet quickly and comfortably. The hardware will be available at a special low price in conjunction with a T-Mobile contract and is expected to be on sale at computer specialists by the third quarter of 2006. Additional joint solutions from HP and T-Mobile for mobile data communication via the iPAQ and laptop are currently being developed.

The compact HP Compaq nx7400 Business Notebook PC is aimed at cost-conscious users. Thanks to the new Intel processor technology and up to four gigabytes DDR2 RAM, it is easy to work productively and flexibly while on the move with this laptop. It is equipped with a 15.4 inch widescreen display and has many practical and innovative functions, including HP ProtectTools, for example, which protect users from unauthorised access to sensitive data. Flexible battery solutions also enable users to work in comfort on business trips or during longer meetings. The standard battery offers up to 4.5 hours running time, and the new HP high-capacity battery even offers up to 14 hours. As well as the notebook, subscribers also receive the web’n'walk Card W-LAN or the web’n'walk Card compact. These data cards from T-Mobile enable users to surf on the move and download data at bandwidths of up to 1.8 megabits per second via the HSPDA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access). So even very large files can be downloaded onto mobile computers in short order. HSDPA is already available for the entire T-Mobile Deutschland UMTS network.

A fixed element of the offer is a T-Mobile postpay contract consisting of the DataWeb data rate and the web’n'walk Large data option. This package offers professionals a quasi-flat rate and hotspot usage for a fixed price of EUR 59 per month including VAT. With a data volume of 5 gigabytes for mobile data transmission by HSDPA/UMTS or EDGE/GPRS and 200 hours of W-LAN at T-Mobile and T-Com HotSpots, users are perfectly equipped with professional technology for working on the move.

“Thanks to the cooperation agreement with HP we can perfect our range for mobile broadband applications and offer our customers modern data solutions hand in hand with high-quality laptops – and all at very attractive prices,” explains Ingo Marten, Head of Data and Solutions Business Customer Sales at T-Mobile Deutschland, highlighting the wide-ranging benefits for customers.

“This cooperative agreement is an important strategic step for both our companies,” says Ingo Gassmann, Director PSG Category Management at HP Deutschland. “Both partners give customers the benefit of their own individual experience and strengths – HP its products and technologies for mobile data communication, and T-Mobile its high-performance mobile communications network and individual rates.”