The German telecommunications infrastructure is setting global standards, for Deutsche Telekom invested in state-of-the-art technologies such as fiber-optics very early on. With more than 120,000 kilometers of fiber-optic cable installed, Deutsche Telekom has the densest fiber-optic network in the world and has put high-speed data highways into operation. Since 1993 Germany’s economic centers have been connected by high-performance networks. All long-distance telephone calls in the Federal Republic are digitalized; conversion of all 5,200 local networks to digital technology will be completed by the end of 1997.

Deutsche Telekom AG has been and continues to be faced with the huge task of replacing the obsolete telephone network in the former GDR. Within just a short time it has made considerable progress: Between 1990 and 1996 the number of telephone accesses (including ISDN basic channels) in the new federal states and Berlin rose by more than six million to nearly 8.3 million. By the end of 1997, investment in telecommunications infrastructure in the east will have totaled nearly DM 50 billion.