Deutsche Telekom offers fixed-line & mobile services combined

Deutsche Telekom AG, seeking to stem a loss of traditional phone lines, began marketing a service that allows customers in Germany make fixed-line and mobile calls using the same handset. The service, called T-One, lets users make traditional phone calls over the Internet while at home, and connects to Deutsche Telekom's wireless network when users are outdoors, according to a presentation on the Bonn-based company's Web site. T-One clients can also be reached on their fixed-line numbers while they're on the road. Deutsche Telekom will charge customers between € 10 ($12.8) and € 38 for a package of mobile calls of as many as 200 minutes. Users also need to pay for the fixed-line Web access as well as the cost of the phone. The T-One is available in two versions. Both are able to communicate via the GSM mobile network, but one uses the Internet (VoIP) for calls at home and at WiFi hotspots, whereas the other manages connections at home on the standard fixed network. T-One is the first joint product between T-Com and T-Online since the merger of T-Online with Deutsche Telekom, which was finalized about two months ago. It's also "the first convergent, comprehensive telephony service from a single provider," Burkhard Graßmann, T-Com's board member for Marketing says. (telekom3.de, Bloomberg)