05/11/2005

QSC and debitel form partnership to market super-fast DSL nationwide

Cologne/Stuttgart, May 11, 2005. Cologne-based QSC AG, a nationwide telecommunication provider with its own DSL network, and debitel AG, one of the largest network-independent European telecom service providers and Germany´s third-largest mobile telecommunications service provider, have signed a partnering agreement.

Based on this agreement, debitel and QSC will jointly implement a DSL offering for residential customers. Step by step, debitel will be offering innovative DSL products with bandwidths of up to 16 Mbit/s on the basis of the QSC infrastructure, thus making it one of the first providers to be able to offer DSL connections with such high bandwidths. During the roll out of the new service, a T-DSL resale product will be used in areas where these new products are not yet available. An additional Voice over IP product will round out the new service. The offering will be available from mid August 2005 onwards.

QSC will expand its own network by gradually rolling out the new ADSL2+ standard on a demand-driven basis. The first region to be expanded into will be Düsseldorf, where pilot test are currently under way in preparation for the product launch.
 
Moreover, QSC will not only provide the connections, it will also process all data traffic for debitel´s customers on a carrier-to-carrier basis.

"For debitel, this partnership with QSC is a building block along the road toward becoming an integrated telecommunication provider. We will also position ourselves as a full-service supplier in the German broadband market, and will be able to offer our customers top of the range DSL products market right from the beginning. This will make Voice over IP and video services a distinct possibility for our customers," is the way debitel AG board member Dr. Christian Friege explains the strategic significance of the partnership.

"This contract with Germany´s largest service provider, with more than 6,500 marketing partners and a customer base of over eight million subscribers in Germany, offers us enormous opportunities. It will not only provide a higher utilization of our infrastructure, but will also enable us to be even faster than expected in expanding our network both geographically and with state-of-the-art technology," notes QSC Chief Executive Officer Dr. Bernd Schlobohm, adding, "Further partnerships in the mobile sector for QSC´s business customers are also conceivable."

About QSC
Cologne-based QSC AG (QSC) is a nationwide telecommunication provider with its own DSL network, supplying businesses and premium residential customers with a comprehensive portfolio of broadband communication options ranging from leased lines in various bandwidths to voice and data services right through to custom enterprise networks (VPN). QSC operates on a nearly nationwide scale, in part in conjunction with partners, and provides more than 70 German cities with its own broadband network infrastructure. The company presently employs a workforce of some 380 people and is a member of the TecDAX 30, representing Germany´s 30 leading public technology companies.

About debitel
Headquartered in Stuttgart, debitel AG is one of the largest European telecoms. debitel presently serves some 10.6 million wireless, wireline and Internet customers in Europe. In 2004, debitel generated revenues of approximately € 2.9 billion. debitel employs over 2,600 people in Europe, nearly 1,600 of them in Germany. The company´s Chief Executive Officer is Paul A. Stodden. debitel is active in Denmark, France, the Netherlands and Slovenia. debitel holds a 100-percent interest in MIDRAY, a full-service provider of mobile information and communication solutions for business customers.

For further information please contact:

QSC AG
Claudia Zimmermann
Corporate Communications
Mathias-Brüggen-Str. 55
50829 Köln
Fon: 0221/6698-235
Fax: 0221/6698-289
Mail: presse@qsc.de