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T-Mobil subscribers soar
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February 23, 2000: 8:58 a.m. ET
Deutsche Telekom unit brings mobiles to the masses; Compaq signs Net link
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Deutsche Telekom's cellular-phone unit T-Mobil reported Wednesday that its subscriber base tripled over the last year as Germany's mobile telecom market mushroomed, although the pace of sales growth lagged the rise in customer numbers.
The company also said that Compaq had joined its existing strategic pact with Microsoft to develop Internet-enabled mobile phones and announced its first online cellular partner.
The deal is the latest development in a flurry of activity by Telekom (FDTE) and its business units, which have sent the parent's shares rocketing this year. Its stock was almost 3 percent higher in midday trade in Frankfurt.
T-Mobil, which Telekom has said it will float later this year, said its core German subscriber base jumped to 9.8 million from 3.8 million in the 12 months to end January. Sales climbed almost one-third to 5 billion euros ($5.03 billion) in calendar 1999 from 3.8 billion a year earlier.
The company did not disclose 1999 earnings, which Deutsche Telekom will report on Apr. 19. The subscriber numbers do not include One2One, Britain's fourth-largest cellular network, which Telekom acquired last year. One2One and Austria's maxmobil have been bundled in T-Mobil ahead of the planned flotation.
T-Mobil announced at the CeBIT technology fair in Frankfurt that Compaq (CPQ: Research, Estimates) would join as its hardware partner to launch the new generation of Internet-enabled mobile-phone handsets. The German company announced in November that Microsoft (MSFT: Research, Estimates) would provide the operating platform for the system, which is targeted at the business and retail markets.
T-Mobil also unveiled German engineering firm Robert Bosch as the first corporate partner for a business-to-business marketplace its plans to create for mobile phone users. 
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