German telecoms carrier MobilCom AG has formed an alliance with US internet applications developer Inktomi Corp, incorporating its search and shopping engines and caching platform into the services of its internet service provider, Topnet. For Inktomi, while additional business for its search engine and caching platform is welcome, the main significance of this deal is that MobilCom becomes the first partner in Europe for its online shopping offering.
This business has been in development since the San Mateo, California-based company acquired first the price comparison technology company C2B Technologies, in September last year, then Impulse! Buy Network Inc, a provider of web merchant outsourcing services, in April. For MobilCom, the Inktomi technology enables it to increase the reach of its own search engine, DINO-Online, purchased in April this year, as well as raising its profile in the e-commerce space in Europe, with such pioneering services as online price comparison.
The Bielefeld-based telco has been a runaway success in the liberalized German long distance and international telephony market with its facilities-based business model, involving major discounts compared to the incumbent, Deutsche Telekom AG. Now, however, with the German regulator having set restrictive tariffs for the local loop, MobilCom CEO Gerhard Schmid has set his sights on a proprietary network, having been pipped to the post for the Otelo acquisition by the Mannesmann group earlier this year. The company is now rumored to be interested in acquiring the cable TV network Deutsche Telekom wants to sell off to appease regulatory concerns.
