Dear Readers,
2024 was a record year for Deutsche Telekom. We recorded growth in all business areas and achieved the highest operating result in the company's history.
This success provides tailwind for 2025, our anniversary year: 30 years ago, Deutsche Bundespost Telekom became Deutsche Telekom AG. The fact that we are where we are today, has a lot to do with the people who work for this company. Together we have gone through ups and downs. Have overcome crises. Storms endured. Successes celebrated. Have grown. Over the past three decades this perseverance has made us the most valuable brand in Europe and the most valuable TelCo brand in the world.
We show the same perseverance when it comes to sustainability. From the very beginning, we have been committed to operating sustainably – out of conviction, because it also makes economic sense.
That is why we continue to pursue our ambitious climate targets. By 2040, we aim to achieve net-zero emissions along our entire value chain. Our climate transition plan outlines the planned measures to achieve this. We continue to follow this path and to adhere to our maxim of doing the things we say.
The foundation of our success is that, as a global company, we evaluate and discuss things before we implement them. In the digital world, it is increasingly difficult to assess facts. The spread of disinformation on the internet plays a part in this. At Deutsche Telekom, we are working with many partners and non-profit organizations to strengthen the competent use of digital media. For the fifth year in a row, we are committed with our initiative “No Hate Speech” to conscious use of media and against exclusion or “hate speech”.
Also, economic success makes an important contribution to the further development of sustainability. Always in the interplay of economy, ecology and society. Our mission is to run Deutsche Telekom as a successful, sustainable company. Economically and socially, we are established as a brand and as a company. However, for us success is not an end in itself. It is based on a culture that takes ambition, curiosity, variety, respect and integrity seriously. This culture and our value system are our guardrails.
I'm proud that Deutsche Telekom has again and again managed to work out a position of strength, also in difficult times. We want to continue to use and expand this position. As a company that has its roots in Europe, we pay particular attention to developments on our continent. “Made in Europe” is under pressure. In Europe, we must focus on our own strengths.
To achieve this, Europe's digital future urgently needs reforms and a regulation that is implemented with a sense of proportion. Sovereignty, independence and trust in our own European strengths make us an interesting partner. Investing in own Cloud and AI capabilities is essential to combat strategic weaknesses. Because Artificial Intelligence is here to stay. For Europe it is important to seize the opportunities of this intelligence successfully and at the same time responsibly. That's why we developed our “principles for Green AI” in 2024: a strong signal that AI and sustainability are no opposites for us.
Who wants to shape the future is not afraid of change. Therein lies the power of a company that, after 30 years, says: The best is yet to come. At 30 it really starts!
True to our brand promise “Connecting Your World”, we won’t stop until everyone is connected.
Yours
Tim Höttges,
CEO Deutsche Telekom AG