T-Mobile, Fujitsu Siemens team on 3G notebook

German mobile phone operator T-Mobile Deutschland plans to offer a low-cost notebook with three wireless connectivity options in a move to promote its high-speed mobile data services in Europe's largest cellular market.

The notebooks, to be manufactured by Fujitsu Siemens Computers, will be equipped with 3G (third-generation), HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access), and WLAN (wireless LAN) technologies, T-Mobile said Thursday in a statement.

The computers will be available in the second quarter of 2006 to customers in Germany, according to a T-Mobile spokeswoman. "We can't say right now whether or not the offer will be extended to T-Mobile customers outside the country," she said.

T-Mobile Deutschland is a unit of T-Mobile International, which has more than 80 million customers in nine markets in Europe and North America. T-Mobile International is a wholly owned subsidiary of German telco Deutsche Telekom.

The primary target group for the high-speed wireless notebooks are business users, the spokeswoman said.

Computer maker Fujitsu Siemens plans to install all three high-speed wireless technologies in its Lifebook series. "The notebooks will be designed to select the technology offering the best connection but users will also be offered the option to choose manually," the spokeswoman said.

However, in a first step, T-Mobile will begin offering in March the Amilo pro notebook from Fujitsu Siemens with an HSDPA card. The computer will be available at an "extraordinarily attractive price," T-Mobile said in the statement.

A report in the German business magazine Capital, citing sources familiar with the matter, said the computers could cost as little as €100 ($119). T-Mobile would subsidize the machines up to €500 per unit, but require customers to sign up for two years of service, according to the report.

The T-Mobile spokeswoman declined to comment on pricing, pointing to the Cebit trade show in March when the operator intends to announce terms and conditions of the new offering.

Fujitsu Siemens is a 50-50 joint venture of Germany's Siemens and Japan's Fujitsu.