Makedonski Telekom has become the first company within the Deutsche Telekom group – and indeed Europe – with a network fully based on Internet Protocol (IP).
Modernisation of the network began in October 2011 and cost €13 million, which was a significant amount not only for the telco but also Macedonia as a whole.
It saw all 290,000 lines migrated onto the new platform, which can now offer such services as broadband on demand.
Commenting on the development, Claudia Nemat, member of the Board of Deutsche Telekom for Europe & Technology, said: “We are working on a Pan-European network on the basis of All IP. This network will integrate mobile communications and fixed-line network technology. And it will enable a new cloud-based production model.
“Our objective is, by the end of 2018, to have our customers across Europe migrated to IP. To this end, the experience gained from Macedonia is of great value. Migrating to All IP is a great challenge. With its successful launch our colleagues in Macedonia are real pioneers.”
“Although the number of migrated customers is small compared to Germany, the team faced the same challenges colleagues in larger countries have to deal with. Our colleagues from Macedonia had to find solutions for -inter alia- flight control, alarm systems or large enterprises”, added Nemat.
“We will continue to learn from them within the next months. Macedonia is our IP ‘hot spot’, setting a great example and proving once again that we have a leading position in Europe.”
