Microsoft goes mobile with Deutsche Telekom

NEWS Deutsche Telecom is hoping to edge ahead of its rivals by signing a deal with Microsoft which will see it target mobile business users. The two companies plan to develop a platform to give business users remote access to enterprise applications via a portal. Deutsche Telekom's mobile arm, T-Mobile, has a 44 million-strong subscriber base. The deal is designed to build on this and give it a head-start on potential rivals. This also represents an important part of Microsoft's strategy to replicate its success with Windows in the PC market in the mobile arena. It hopes to get its mobile operating system onto 100 million phones within three to five years. The service will be commercially available towards the end of or the beginning of 2003.