Venturing for Commercialization of R&D Results

The last 15 years have transformed the telecommunications industry, creating one of the most volatile industries in existence today. The liberalization of the telecommunication market has lead to a high level of competition along with decreasing prices. In addition, the spreading of Internet technologies has broken up the vertically integrated service platforms, allowing small companies to enter the market and new services to emerge. Mobile telephony, which became a mass market only 12 years ago, now has a worldwide customer base which is roughly twice as large as the fixed line business.

In such a fast moving environment it is essential to drive innovation and extend the portfolio of business areas. Deutsche Telekom Laboratories supports the creation of new business fields with a venturing approach that allows for external commercialization of R&D results. In collaboration with a network of external partners, R&D results are spun-out, developed externally and, if successful, some are spun back in.