Radical changes in the telecommunications sector, such as Internet telephony (Voice over IP), have intensified competition. Against this background, Telekom Laboratories is engaged in developing innovations across the Group. By establishing the Laboratories, Deutsche Telekom has combined the best of both worlds, bridging the gap between enterprise and academic research to turn ideas into marketable innovations as quickly as possible.

Telekom Laboratories’ research and development activities are concentrated on the so called 5 I’s of innovation as derived from Deutsche Telekom’s corporate strategy:

• Intuitive Usability

  Making complex applications in telecommunications and information technology as easy to use as possible.

• Integrative Service Components

  Modules in the fields of multimedia, service intelligence, transaction services, media and process information technology.

• Intelligent Access

  Linking individual applications for users across all network platforms.

• Infrastructure Development

  Setting the course for high-performance networks and intelligent network technology to effectively manage data flows.

• Inherent Security

  Creating the conditions for reliable information processing and storage.

Patent Applications

To date, Telekom Laboratories has made 35 invention disclosures; 23 patents were pending based on these disclosures. The initial applications were made in Germany, other European countries, Israel and the United States. They were the result of work carried out by Deutsche Telekom experts, research done by Telekom Laboratories scientists (submitted via the TU Berlin) or contract work undertaken with partners such as Ben-Gurion University.