T-Mobile is the brand name used by some of the mobile communications subsidiaries of the German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG in the Czech Republic (T-Mobile Czech Republic), Poland (T-Mobile Polska) and the United States (T-Mobile US).
The T-Mobile brand was introduced in 1996 and the name was previously used by subsidiaries in other countries, including Austria (now Magenta), Croatia (now Hrvatski Telekom), Germany (now Deutsche Telekom), Hungary (now Magyar Telekom), Montenegro (now Crnogorski Telekom), the Netherlands (now Odido), North Macedonia (now Makedonski Telekom), Slovakia (now Slovak Telekom), and the United Kingdom (now EE).
In 1999, Deutsche Telekom formed the holding company T-Mobile International AG for its mobile communications subsidiaries. From 2003 to 2007, T-Mobile International was one of Deutsche Telekom's services, in addition to "Broadband/Fixnet" (T-Mobile Fiber), "Business Customers" and "Group HQ and Shared Services". In 2009, Deutsche Telekom transformed its structure to adopt a regional setup (Germany, Europe, US). By combining its previously separated fixed and mobile subsidiaries to form integrated local businesses, T-Mobile International itself was merged into Deutsche Telekom AG.
When T-Mobile International AG existed, the holding company was based in Bonn, Germany, and its subsidiaries operated GSM-, UMTS- and LTE-based cellular networks in Europe, the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The company had financial stakes in mobile operators in both Central and Eastern Europe. Globally, T-Mobile International's subsidiaries had a combined total of approximately 230 million subscribers. It was the world's thirteenth-largest mobile-phone service provider by subscribers, and the fourth-largest multinational after the UK's Vodafone, India's Airtel, and Spain's Telefónica."Deutsche Telekom: Deutsche Telekom Stabilizes Business in the Second Quarter and Confirms Forecast for Full Year 2009". Deutsche Telekom.
History
Germany's first mobile-communications services were radiotelephone systems that were owned and operated by the state postal monopoly, Deutsche Bundespost. It launched the analog first-generation C-Netz ("C Network", marketed as C-Tel), Germany's first true mobile phone network in 1985.
On 1 July 1989, West Germany reorganized Deutsche Bundespost and consolidated telecommunications into a new unit, Deutsche Bundespost Telekom. On 1 July 1992, it began to operate Germany's first GSM network, along with the C-Netz, as its DeTeMobil subsidiary. The GSM 900 MHz frequency band was referred to as the "D-Netz", and Telekom named its service D1; the private consortium awarded the second license (now Vodafone Germany) chose the name D2. Deutsche Bundespost Telekom was renamed Deutsche Telekom AG on 1 January 1995 as part of phase two of the German communications reform. This process of deregulation continued in November 1996, when DT was privatized and had the largest European IPO at the time, with the stock abbreviation 'DT 1'.
In December 1999, T-Mobile International AG & Co. KG holding company was founded (later renamed T-Mobile International AG). In 2002, as DT consolidated its international operations, it anglicized the T-Mobil name to T-Mobile.
On 5 July 2005 Deutsche Telekom transformed its structure and adopted a regional setup (Germany, Europe, US). Where available, the local mobile businesses were combined with the respective local wireline businesses to follow the integrated business approach. In 2009 T-Mobile International AG was merged into Deutsche Telekom AG.
Deutsche Telekom Mobile Operations
CountryOperatorNumber of customers(in millions) Austria Magenta Telekom 5.066Bosnia and Herzegovina HT Eronet (JP Hrvatske telekomunikacije d.d. Mostar) (39.10% shares held by Hrvatski Telekom) 0.834 Croatia Hrvatski Telekom (53.5% ownership) 2.273 Czech Republic T-Mobile Czech Republic 6.206 Germany Telekom Deutschland GmbH 50.272 Greece Telekom Greece 100.00% (shares held by OTE) 6.935 Hungary Magyar Telekom Nyrt. (61.39% ownership) 5.504 Montenegro Crnogorski Telekom A.D. (76.53% shares held by Hrvatski Telekom) 0.3 North Macedonia Makedonski Telekom AD (59.21% shares held by Magyar Telekom) 1.2 Poland T-Mobile Polska 11.290 Romania Telekom Romania Mobile (99.99% shares held by OTE) 3.539 Slovakia Slovak Telekom 2.478 United States T-Mobile US (53.1% ownership) 104.790/104.791
Austria
Until 2000, Magenta Telekom (known then as T-Mobile(austria)) was a shareholder of the former max.mobil. network. In April 2001, it acquired one hundred percent and subsequently introduced the T-Mobile brand in Austria by rebranding max.mobil. in April 2002 as T-Mobile Austria. It later rebranded again to Magenta Telekom on 6 May 2019, after acquiring the Austrian operations of UPC from Liberty Global in December 2017.
In 2005, it acquired former competitor tele.ring from Western Wireless International. It is now used as a discount brand. tele.ring is an Austrian mobile network operator. Since it was bought by Magenta Telekom (then T-Mobile) in 2006, it is no longer a legally independent company. Tele.ring is administratively independent and now acts primarily as a discount-offer, similar to Yesss and BoB of A1. In the past, tele.ring was known for their aggressive price-politics.
Croatia
T-Mobile entered the Croatian market in October 1999 when DT initially acquired a thirty-five percent interest in Hrvatski telekom, including its cell phone service provider Cronet. Two years later, DT signed an agreement with the Croatian government to acquire the additional 16 percent needed for a majority holding. In January 2003, Hrvatski Telekom assembled all of its mobile activities under a single brand HTmobile. Finally, in October 2004, HTmobile became T-Mobile Hrvatska, or T-Mobile Croatia, thus joining the global T-Mobile family also by name. Since January 1, 2010, Hrvatski Telekom and T-Mobile Croatia merged into one company on the Croatian market under the name Hrvatski Telekom (in English: Croatian Telecom); the T-Mobile brand remained active in the mobile-business area and T-Com in the fixed-business area until 2013 when they were replaced by unified brand "Hrvatski Telekom".
Czech Republic
T-Mobile was previously known as Paegas in the Czech Republic. T-Mobile Czech Republic a.s. has been operating in the Czech market since 1996. As of 31 December 2014, 6 million customers were using T-Mobile services.
T-Mobile Czech Republic a.s. operates a public mobile communications network on the GSM standard in the 900 and 1800 MHz bands and is also authorized to operate a UMTS network. On 19 October 2005, T-Mobile was the first operator in the Czech Republic to launch this third-generation technology under the name Internet 4G.
Germany
Germany's initial mobile communications services were radiotelephone systems that were owned and operated by the state postal monopoly, Deutsche Bundespost. These early mobile communications networks were referred to as the "A" and "B" networks.
Deutsche Bundespost Telekom built Germany's first cellular mobile network, an analog, first-generation system referred to as the "C" network or C-Netz. The network became operational in 1985 and services were marketed under the C-Tel brand. Following German reunification in 1990, the "C" network was extended to the former East Germany.
On 1 July 1992, Deutsche Bundespost Telekom's DeTeMobil subsidiary began operating Germany's first GSM 900 MHz frequency cellular network, which the organization referred to as D-Netz. Digital GSM services were marketed under the "D1" brand and DeTeMobil continued to sell analog cellular services concurrently under the existing C-Tel brand. In 1994, DeTeMobil introduced short message service (SMS) services.
In 1996, DT began to brand its subsidiaries with the T- prefix, renaming the DeTeMobil subsidiary T-Mobil and rebranding the GSM cellular network T-D1. C-Netz was renamed to T-C-Tel. The T-C-Tel / C-Netz services were fully discontinued in 2000.
D1 introduced prepaid service called Xtra in 1997.
Despite the numerous changes in subsidiary names and brands, Germans sometimes continue to use the T-D1 name within Germany and refer to T-Mobile as D1. On 1 April 2010, after the T-Home and T-Mobile German operations merged to form Telekom Deutschland GmbH, a wholly owned DT subsidiary; the T-Mobile brand was discontinued in Germany and replaced with the Telekom brand.
Hungary
On 1 May 2004, the same day as Hungary joined the European Union, the former company, named Westel (which was owned entirely by the former Matáv) changed its name, and the entire marketing. Westel was the most popular cellphone network in Hungary at the time. The company was called T-Mobile Hungary, but after some financial decisions, as with the other T- companies, it formed to Magyar Telekom Nyrt. Mobil Szolgáltatások Üzletág (Hungarian Telekom, Mobile Services Business Unit), and its branding started to use Telekom instead of T-Mobile. T-Mobile also provides high-speed services, like EDGE, 3G, and HSDPA in Hungary's major cities.
North Macedonia
In Republic of North Macedonia, T-Mobile was previously known as Mobimak. The company has been operating in the Macedonian market since 1996. On 7 September 2006, Mobimak accepted the international T-Mobile branding. By June 2007, T-Mobile reached one million subscribers, out of which 85 percent were active and using their services. T-Mobile MK covers 98 percent of the population. It has a GSM 900 licence, offers GPRS, MMS and mobile internet services using T-Mobile HotSpots and has implemented the EDGE fast mobile internet specification. T-Mobile Macedonia applied for a UMTS licence on 1 August 2007. From 1 July T-Mobile ceased to exist as a legal entity and was replaced by the Telekom brand. The carrier name is now Telekom MK. The codes are 070/071/072.
Montenegro
The T-Mobile brand entered the Montenegrin market in 2006 through the acquisition of MoNet GSM mobile provider. T-Mobile Montenegro (T-Mobile Crna Gora) is fully owned by T-Crnogorski Telekom, which is itself owned by Magyar Telekom, a DT subsidiary. Although the acquisition by Magyar Telekom was done in 2005, it was not until 26 September 2006, that the MoNet GSM operator was re-branded as T-Mobile Montenegro.
MoNet GSM launched on July 1, 2000, as part of Telecom Montenegro. It became an independent incorporated limited-liability company a month later, on 1 August 2000. The company currently holds around 34 percent of the Montenegrin market and uses GSM 900, GPRS, and EDGE technologies. Since 21 June 2007, 3G/UMTS services have been available in larger cities as well as on the coast.
Netherlands
Deutsche Telekom entered the Dutch market by the acquisition of Ben on 20 September 2002. In 2007, T-Mobile Netherlands, a wholly owned subsidiary of T-Mobile International, acquired Orange Netherlands from France Télécom for EUR 1.33 billion. This makes it the third largest mobile telephone operator in the country behind KPN and Vodafone.
As part of an acquisition of Tele2 Netherlands by T-Mobile Netherlands, which was announced on December 15, 2017, the previous owner Tele2 AB became a 25% shareholder in T-Mobile Netherlands. The company is now called Odido.
Poland
T-Mobile Polska serves over thirteen million customers, and owns licenses for 900, 1800MHz bands which are used for GSM, 800, 900, 1800, 2100 2600MHz for LTE and 2100 (DSS), 3500MHz for 5G NR NSA. Formerly Era, rebranding took place on 5 June 2011. T-Mobile Poland with Orange Polska have consolidated their infrastructure.
Romania
Telekom Romania Mobile Communications S.A. is a mobile network company in Romania, wholly owned by OTE, which in turn is controlled by Deutsche Telekom, operating under Telekom brand. Telekom Romania Mobile had 3.5 million subscribers with 15% market share as of July 2021.
Slovakia