Google and Deutsche Telekom today announced an “expanded partnership” that covers RCS, Android TV, and cloud. On the consumer-facing front, Telekom Germany users will be getting access to RCS, while there’s a new MagentaTV One streaming device.
“Deutsche Telekom is a longstanding and important partner for us, going back to the launch of the G1, the first smartphone powered by Android, in 2008,” says Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet. “Today’s announcements will expand the range of helpful and trusted products and services that we can provide to businesses and consumers across business messaging, cloud computing, and TV experiences.”
Telekom already offers Rich Communication Service via Google Messages (and Jibe) in Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. It’s only now expanding RCS to Deutsche Telekom users in Germany for all Android phones.
On the business front, Telekom RCS Business Messaging will be available in all of its European countries:
Consumers can order products, make reservations, purchase tickets and more through a seamless digital experience within their messaging app, while companies can create and manage messages to reach target groups more effectively and increase brand loyalty.
A new Android TV OS-powered MagentaTV One streaming box is coming to Germany. It has its own “modern MagentaTV main menu” UI and works over Deutsche Telekom fixed network connection or any other ISP. It comes with a full remote that offers voice controls, 4K, and an unspecified quad-core processor. It’s a follow-up to the MagentaTV Stick launched in 2020, though it visually differs from the US version.
Lastly, Google Cloud and the carrier’s T-Systems arm announced the upcoming spring availability of “Sovereign Cloud for Germany.”
In this new joint offering, T-Systems will manage a set of sovereignty controls and measures, including encryption and identity management. In addition, T Systems will exercise a control function over relevant parts of the German Google Cloud infrastructure. Any physical or virtual access to facilities in Germany (such as routine maintenance and upgrades) will be under the supervision of T-Systems and Google Cloud.
T-Mobile in the US announced a similar partnership with Google in May of 2021.
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