Ad-hoc | 16 February 2000 07:53

Ad hoc-Service: Deutsche Telekom AG

Ad-hoc Mitteilung übermittelt durch die DGAP. Für den Inhalt der Mitteilung ist allein der Emittent verantwortlich. —————————————————————————— Ad hoc notification by Deutsche Telekom in accordance with Section 15 of the Security Trading Act (WpHG) Bonn, Paris, February 16, 2000 Deutsche Telekom AG and Lagardere form strategic Online Alliance. Deutsche Telekom AG and the French group Lagardere have concluded an online partnership based on a swap of shares between their online subsidiaries Club Internet an T- Online International AG. Deutsche Telekom’s Supervisory Board has approved the framework agreement with Club Internet and the Lagardere group. Accordingly, T-Online International AG holds 99.9 % of the Internet company Club Internet. In return, the Lagardere group will receive a stake of approximately 6.5 % of T-Online’s capital stock to be made available by an additional capital increase. Club Internet is the second largest online provider in France and currently has around 320, subscribers and approximately 80,000 additional e-mail accounts. Following the start-up of T-Online Austria, the partnership with Club Internet is a further important step in T-Online’s internationalization strategy and that of the Deutsche Telekom Group in the growth market for online business. Various industry experts are predicting above-average growth for the French Internet market in the coming years in European comparison. Extensive synergies can be generated in particular in the cooperation between Club Internet and Siris S.A., the French telecommunications company acquired by Deutsche Telekom last year, which has wide-ranging fixed-network activities in France. Furthermore, the agreement with the Lagardere group also covers the provision of a broad spectrum of content material for Club Internet over the coming years by the largest French media division of the Lagardere group. On basis of this partnership in France, synergies can be employed to further strengthen our international market opportunities. Furthermore, Deutsche Telekom is planning a joint venture with the Kirch group to develop and market hardware and software for TV-oriented multimedia platforms. The focus is on set-top boxes for digital distribution television, multimedia services, broadband Internet and video on demand services. The goal of the joint venture is to further develop digital decoder technology to create an open and non-discriminatory architecture for content providers, service providers and manufacturers. Deutsche Telekom will hold 51% of this joint venture. The Kirch subsidiary Beta Research will be 100% included in the new company and, from Deutsche Telekom, Multimedia Software GmbH in Dresden and HIC (Home Infotainment Center), T-Nova GmbH’s competence center, Darmstadt. Ende der Mitteilung