René Obermann

René Obermann, Chairman of the Board of Management of Deutsche Telekom AG spoke in his presentation "Responsibility - Crisis - Future" about challenges, ways and strategies out of the crisis from the perspective of an international telecommunications group with German roots.

René Obermann, born in Düsseldorf in March 1963, has been Chairman of the Board of Management of Deutsche Telekom AG since November 2006. Obermann had already joined Deutsche Telekom in 1998 as Managing Director Sales at T-Mobile Deutschland GmbH. In April 2000, he became Chairman of the Board of Management. One year later, he assumed further responsibility for the European business of T-Mobile International AG & Co. KG. From 2002 to December 2006, Obermann was both Chairman of the Board of Management of T-Mobile International AG & Co. KG as well as Board Member for Mobile Communications within the Group. During this time, T-Mobile continued its growth as one of the world's leading mobile communications providers with more than one hundred million customers worldwide and successfully launched the T-Mobile brand in eleven countries. René Obermann's professional career began with an apprenticeship as an industrial clerk at BMW AG in Munich. He then founded his own trading company, ABC Telekom, based in Münster, in 1986. Obermann led the resulting Hutchison Mobilfunk GmbH as Managing Partner from 1991 and was Chairman of the Management Board from 1994 to 1998. René Obermann has been a member of the Executive Committee of the German Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media (BITKOM) since March 2007. In the 1990s, he was Chairman of the then German Association of Mobile Service Providers (VAM) for two years.

Deutsche Telekom AG is one of the world's leading service providers in the telecommunications and information technology sector. With its T-Home, T-Mobil and T-Systems divisions, Deutsche Telekom AG offers its customers products and services for connected life and work. Deutsche Telekom AG is represented in around 50 countries worldwide. As one of the largest telecommunications providers in Europe, the company is present in the most important markets in Europe, Asia and America. In the 2008 financial year, Deutsche Telekom AG generated consolidated revenue of EUR 61.7 billion with 235,000 employees, which is divided roughly equally between domestic and international business, whereby the international share has increased steadily in recent years.

In his contribution to the 17th Munich Management Colloquium, René Obermann will discuss the particular challenges faced by an international telecommunications group in times of crisis and which levers should be used to overcome them. He will present concepts and experiences and point out opportunities and paths for the future.

Status: Beginning of 2010