Telecommunications is an important element of a country's infrastructure. Without telecommunications, the development of a modern industrial society is almost inconceivable. We experienced this ourselves in Germany after reunification with what was then the GDR. When Deutsche Telekom took charge of the development and operation of the telecommunications networks in eastern Germany, the company immediately came under enormous pressure to modernise the completely outdated inadequate communications infrastructure in eastern Germany as quickly as possible. Business users in particular urgently wanted telephone lines and other telecommunications facilities in order to carry our their activities. The author outlines the general ideas on strategies for developing network services. Firstly, progress made in a series of key technologies has led to communications networks becoming more and more efficient. Secondly, increasing deregulation of the markets has given rise to competition, which, together with the third aspect, namely higher customer requirements, has led to network operators doing their utmost to respond to their customers' wishes as quickly and flexibly as possible.
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