Press Releases Telefónica Germany

Telefónica Germany wants to build on the knowledge gained during the COVID-19 special situation and anchor positive changes for the future. To this end, the company presented the corresponding direction to its approximately 8,500 employees on August 10, 2020. With "5 Bold Moves" - five decisive steps - the cooperation is to be aligned to the digital working world of tomorrow: Working Anywhere, Working Anytime, Outcome-based Leadership, Digital by Default and 70% Less Travel.

Telefónica Deutschland / O₂ has had a robust first half-year against the background of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

July 21, 1995 marks the birth of today's Telefónica Deutschland / O₂. 25 years ago, the predecessor company VIAG Interkom became the 4th mobile network operator. Today, the company connects more than 42 million people in mobile communications alone. Another more than 2 million via the fixed network. And a steadily growing number of machines. With increasing digitalization, the company will in future have an even greater impact on all areas of life and work.

Telefónica Deutschland / O₂ is currently equipping 350 mobile phone sites per week with smart meters for digital power metering to further increase the CO₂ efficiency of the O₂ network. In total, a good 7,500 locations currently have smart meters. The equipment of 27,000 sites is planned by the end of 2021. Telefónica Deutschland expects considerable electricity and CO₂ savings through this digitalization measure.

O₂ is more popular than ever with its dealers. This is shown by the results of the latest reader survey conducted by Telecom Handel, the trade magazine for telecommunications. The readers of the renowned Munich trade magazine, predominantly telecommunications retailers from all over Germany, voted O₂ the best mobile phone provider of the year. The mobile phone brand is thus continuing its series of successes in retail.

The Corona crisis has once again shown how important a well-functioning digital infrastructure is for maintaining public life. Our networks are far better than their reputation - they have passed the stress test! This was made clear again today by the federal government, the states, local authorities and the network operators in their joint declaration on the occasion of the second mobile communications summit under the leadership of Federal Minister Andreas Scheuer.

Telefónica Deutschland Holding AG has signed an agreement with Telxius Telecom S.A. (Telxius) on the spin-off and sale of its passive infrastructure. Approximately 10,100 mobile sites, which are mostly situated on rooftops, will be transferred to the infrastructure company at a purchase price of 1.5 billion euros. The active radio technology at the transferred sites will remain the property of Telefónica Deutschland and will continue to be used to operate the mobile communications network.

In the fight against the coronavirus, Telefónica Deutschland is supporting an international research association to develop therapies and vaccinations. The telecommunications provider is providing a data centre for the volunteer computing project folding@home.

Telefónica Deutschland is building the o2 mobile network of the future. For the particularly security-relevant 5G core network, the company is relying on a European provider in the form of the Swedish telecommunications supplier Ericsson. With this groundbreaking decision, the company is setting the course for a secure, digital network for the country in the coming 5G era.

O₂ and comdirect bank AG will cooperate in O₂ Banking in future. Together, the partners will comprehensively modernise the mobile banking offer for their customers. With comdirect, O₂, the core brand of Telefónica Deutschland, has won one of the leading online banks in Germany for o2 Banking. The multiple award-winning bank stands for innovative strength, a powerful technological platform and high quality customer service.

Telefónica Deutschland has successfully held its first virtual Annual General Meeting. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, shareholders were able to resolve as planned agenda items such as the payment of the dividend for 2019 and the Supervisory Board election.

Telefónica Deutschland with its core brand O₂ has largely achieved the Corporate Responsibility (CR) targets set in 2016 with the Responsible Business Plan 2020 one year earlier than originally planned. The target of reducing Co2 emissions by 11 percent compared with 2015 was significantly exceeded with a reduction of 28.5 percent by the end of 2019. While data volumes rose by 106% by the end of 2019 compared to 2015, energy consumption fell by 15%. Overall, this means a reduction in energy consumption per data volume of 56.1%. The company has been sourcing 100% of its electricity from renewable sources since 2016.

Telefónica Deutschland has made a good start to the year 2020. The company grew more strongly than in previous quarters in terms of both revenue and earnings. In the first three months, revenue rose by 3.8 percent to 1.85 billion euros, while adjusted operating income (OIBDA) increased by 1.6 percent to 532 million euros.

From next Monday, 20 April 2020, O₂ will be opening its shops for customers again - the only exceptions are O₂ shops in Bavaria and Thuringia. In these two federal states, the O₂ shops will open one week later due to the orders of the state governments. This means that from 20 April in 14 federal states and from 27 April throughout Germany, O₂ will once again offer personal advice in the O₂ Shops during the known opening hours.

The current challenges around the corona topic influence the private and professional life of millions of people. Many customers are at home, working from their home office, looking after their children or are in contact with their schools and universities via the Internet. The O₂ network has a very special role to play in meeting people's increased need for information and communication in these times. More than ever, we are dependent on mobile networking.

The Supervisory Board of Telefónica Deutschland Holding AG today elected Peter Löscher as the new Chairman of the Supervisory Board. He has been a member of the company's Supervisory Board since April 1, 2020 by court appointment.

In the current exceptional situation due to corona, the discussion about mobility analyses based on mobile radio data has gained momentum again. The question is whether and how these analyses can help to contain the corona virus.

The O₂ brand is the new partner of "Germany against Corona". With its "All for All" campaign, the initiative appeals to every individual to maintain the necessary safety distance in public spaces. At the same time, it wants to spread confidence and promote cohesion.

The crisis management team of the Bavarian Red Cross (BRK) is temporarily moving to the O₂ Tower at Georg-Brauchle-Ring because of the corona pandemic. From there, 30 BRK employees will coordinate the emergency work for the Free State of Bavaria from the first floor of the building around the clock in three shifts, probably for the next two months.

A flagship project for more than 8,000 ALDI sites in 14 European countries | Secure, scalable, straightforward: SD-WAN networking solution from Telefónica Germany meets all the high expectations of its partner

In accordance with the official requirements of the federal states and for reasons of preventive health protection, Telefónica Germany is keeping all directly operated O₂ Shops throughout Germany closed until further notice with effect from 18 March 2020. This also includes O₂ Shops in federal states for which no official order has been issued to date.

The current corona issue affects the whole of society. O₂ is assuming responsibility and providing its customers with the best possible support in these challenging times: A special measure will ensure the basic communicative supply of all O₂ private and business customers as well as customers of the second brand BLUE (both prepaid and postpaid). In the coming weeks, they will be able to keep up to date with the latest developments and stay in touch with family and friends without restrictions - by telephone or video telephony, via WhatsApp and other digital channels.

5G you can touch - this is what Telefónica Deutschland is now offering at BASECAMP in the middle of Berlin. The first 5G indoor campus solution in the capital city enables all interested parties to try out the new wireless technology. In addition, the company will be promoting the exchange of information on the key topics relating to 5G at BASECAMP. The official opening ceremony with Telefónica CEO Markus Haas, Eugene Kaspersky, CEO Kaspersky, the President of the Federal Office for Information Security Arne Schönbohm and moderator and journalist Dunja Hayali marked the start of the event.

With its strong performance, the O₂ network secures the grade "good" in the current mobile phone benchmark 2020 of PC Magazin and PC Go, two sister magazines of the trade magazine connect. This puts the network on an equal footing with the other network operators* in the rating ("good"). The O₂ network convinced in various categories and thus once again demonstrates its reliability and performance in the digital customer's everyday life.

Telefónica Deutschland has successfully concluded the 2019 financial year and has fully achieved its targets. As forecast, the company grew profitably: Revenue rose by 1.1 percent to 7.4 billion euros, while adjusted operating income (OIBDA) increased by 1 percent on a comparable basis. The significantly improved network quality and the introduction of innovative tariffs, especially at O₂, paid off. With almost 1.5 million additional postpaid subscribers, more people switched to the O₂ network than ever before since the takeover of E-Plus.