Press Releases

Budapest, October 29, 2009 11:00

On November 2, 2009 Magyar Telekom is to launch its public testing of the IPv6 based technology. As there is an increasing shortage in the number of available IP addresses that have rendered the use of the Internet easier in so many ways, the market rollout of the innovation, which is indispensable for the Internet society, can be expected in 2010 after the results of the half-year test period now being launched have been assessed. Magyar Telekom will be the first company in Hungary to make the full IPv6 service package available to its residential and corporate customers on the basis of the public testing.

The Internet service, which is based on the IPv6 technology replacing the IPv4 currently in use, will be made available by Magyar Telekom to all its residential and corporate customers from November 2, 2009, initially in the framework of a half-year test period. The package expected to be launched in 2010 will be the first comprehensive commercial IPv6 service in Hungary.

Christopher Mattheisen, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Magyar Telekom said, when speaking about the new service: "We continuously monitor technological innovations and possibilities and try to make them available to our customers as soon as possible. IPv6 opens up great perspectives and we wish to involve our customers from the outset in benefiting from it. We would like Hungarian consumers to be already familiar with the new tools that have become available to them and aware of their possibilities by the time the new technology is in general use the world over."

István Maradi, Chief Technical Officer of Magyar Telekom drew attention to the following regarding the launch of the test: "The introduction of IPv6 is not a simple task, and it is not something that can be done overnight. It is a completely new technology both providers and customers must learn to handle, so we have to be even more careful to see that the switch involves the least possible difficulty."

The explosion in the number of Internet users and the tools they are using has resulted in a rapid decline in the number of available IP addresses. The current IPv4 technology based system can be maintained only until 2011. In several European countries sufficient addresses for only about nine months are available for distribution. This limitation could cause serious bottle-necks mainly in the life of companies and institutions, but it could equally cause problems for domestic users as well. To avoid this scenario, there is a need to make the switch to the new IPv6 technology happen as quickly and as widely as possible.

Another reason why the technological shift to be launched by Magyar Telekom is important and future-proof is that the new IPv6 based technology will make the life of Internet users easier in many ways and they will no longer have to worry about a shortage of available IP addresses. One of the major benefits is that the system based on the new technology is free from the disadvantages of network address translation, as all the tools capable of using the Internet can be given an independent IP address and thus they will be able to communicate smoothly with each other. In the not too distant future it will be possible to connect all our appliances and gadgets to the Internet and we will be able, for example, to set the heating, turn on the washing machine or check the contents of the fridge simply by using our mobile phone. All this, among others, requires that every appliance and gadget has its own IP address and this will be made possible by the new IPv6 technology.

Experts of the T-Home brand providing communication services for homes and small businesses consider that users and communities taking an interest in the new technology should be involved in its development. That is why T-Home is providing the opportunity for its Internet users to become familiar through their own personal experience with the potentials inherent in the new technology: sharing their experiences and opinions they can join other users who test the system and thus participate in designing services that are based on this forward-pointing technology.

Already during the trial period Magyar Telekom will provide IPv6 based content services and Freemail will also become accessible through the technology. Those who wish to participate in the testing can register on the IPv6 pages of Magyar Telekom's website to be launched simultaneously with the testing, where they will find all important information about the technology. Participation in the trial is open to all T-Home or T-Systems ADSL subscribers in Magyar Telekom's service area, or subscribers with broadband optical network access, and who use Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Linux/Unix operating systems on their PC.

For additional information visit: www.telekom.hu/ipv6.

About Magyar Telekom
Magyar Telekom is the principal provider of telecom services in Hungary. It provides a full range of telecommunications and infocommunications (ICT) services including fixed line and mobile telephony, data transmission and non-voice as well as IT and systems integration services. The business activities of Magyar Telekom are managed by two business units: Consumer services (the home-related services brand T-Home and the mobile communications brand T-Mobile); Business services (T-Systems brand). Magyar Telekom is the majority owner of Makedonski Telekom, the leading fixed line and mobile operator in Macedonia and it holds a majority stake in Crnogorski Telekom, the leading telecommunications operator in Montenegro. Magyar Telekom's majority shareholder (59.21%) is MagyarCom Holding GmbH, fully owned by Deutsche Telekom AG.
For further information visit: www.telekom.hu.