Germany Steps Up as U.S. Slows Down

Deutsche Telekom reported a 1.1% year-on-year rise in revenue to 19.9 billion euros for the first quarter, excluding the impact of changes in exchange rates. In the U.S., growth slowed to just 0.7% as T-Mobile US saw "declines in terminal equipment revenue as a result of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic." T-Mobile US has just completed a merger with rival Sprint.

In Germany, DT's revenue rose 0.9%, while in the rest of Europe growth was 0.4%. With 83,000 new broadband customers, DT said the first quarter marked its best result in two years in Germany.  It also attracted 60,000 new users to its MagentaTV service.

Still, DT expects the pandemic to have "limited impact on revenue, due to, for example, the closure of shops, lower roaming revenues, and companies postponing or canceling IT projects. On the other hand, voice telephony  revenue is increasing, for instance, and the mobile churn rate is falling." The Group confirmed its guidance for the current financial year.

In the first three months of 2020, DT added 208 new LTE cell sites to its network in Germany, while 534 cell sites have been upgraded with additional LTE antennas. It is aiming to bring 5G to at least 20 of the largest German cities by the end of 2020. DT also said that more than 200 million people in over 5,000 towns, cities, and municipalities across the United States are now reached by T‑Mobile's  5G network. Source: DT statements