German Chancellor visits DT stand

Angela Merkel visited Deutsche Telekom's exhibition stand at the CeBIT kick-off. Together with Spanish Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero Merkel inquired about the energy saving potential offered by smart metering.

Deutsche Telekom is about much more than telephones and the Internet, emphasized CEO René Obermann to the visiting Chancellor. "We are working on intelligent solutions that will equip the energy, healthcare and administration sectors for the future," said Deutsche Telekom's CEO.

Alongside Angela Merkel, Obermann also welcomed Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Federal Minister of Economics Rainer Brüderle, and Minister President of Lower Saxony Christian Wulff, at the trade fair launch.

Using a miniature model of a typical German household, Obermann demonstrated how users can get started with smart metering. Smart metering enables consumption data for power, gas and water to be read digitally, and the concept forms the basis for intelligent power networks, also known as smart grids. "Power-hungry devices can be identified, individual power consumption adjusted, and tariffs optimized," explained Obermann to the guests.

Chancellor interested in trials
"What benefits does this offer?" was the question the Chancellor posed to Obermann. "We are making energy consumption more transparent. It is a first step towards improving energy efficiency, reducing CO2 emissions and, ultimately, to becoming an innovative partner to the construction and energy sectors." As an example, Obermann cited the current trials in T-City Friedrichshafen, where individual household appliances have separate IP addresses and can be managed locally.

According to Obermann, this trial is due to be extended to 3000 users before the end of this year. The project was met with great interest by the Chancellor: "I'll take a closer look at the project when it gets to that stage."