Deutsche Telekom, one of the world’s leading integrated telecommunications companies and the largest telecommunications provider in Europe by revenue announces that its subsidiary T-Systems International has acquired GeoMobile, a software company based in Dortmund. This move will bolster the portfolio of the Deutsche Telekom subsidiary in the Transport and Logistics industry with an IT platform that supports barrier-free urban mobility. GeoMobile is a relatively new entrant in the intermodal mobility sector, which is currently a growing market.

The company provides public transport operators with a Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform that consolidates the entire mobility offering of a given transport region – regardless of whether it’s the company’s own or that of third-party providers. This comprehensive range of mobility services will be customized to meet the needs of travelers and encourage them to abandon their personal vehicles.

The GeoMobile platform empowers passengers to plan, book, and pay for their trips by bus and train, as well as connections via car sharing or rental bikes – all from their smartphones. They receive real-time travel information, and the platform is made up of an app framework for passengers, hardware components, and a software cloud solution. The cloud platform, together with communication modules that can be retrofitted into vehicles, turns these objects into smart vehicles, which can provide barrier-free driving assistance via a smartphone. This acquisition strengthens T-Systems International’s market position for MaaS solutions and in-vehicle intelligence in the DACH region.

“The transformation of mobility is taking place. Public transport will further expand its vital role. With the help of mobility platforms, transport companies are mastering the challenges of digitalization. In the future, they will be able to offer their passengers mobility with all modes of public transport within a region, simply and digitally via the app. In this way, they are making the much-needed mobility transformation attractive,” says Peter Lorenz, Senior Vice President Digital Solutions at T-Systems International.

The mobility app is a white-label app that provides route calculations from the starting point to the destination, booking, and payment – all from a unified source. It is complemented by local public transport, cabs, rental bikes, car sharing, and walking routes navigation. GeoMobile’s check-in/be-out procedure turns the cell phone into a ticket, with passengers only needing to swipe their smartphones to check into the vehicle. The system registers when the user then leaves the vehicle. Communication modules can be retrofitted into vehicles and selectively along travel routes, to enable barrier-free travel assistance. They also enhance operational processes by providing data such as tank and battery levels or engine speed for fleet management purposes.

The platform’s programming interface makes it easy to integrate the functions into existing public transport apps. The Mobility Data Cloud bundles all data and seamlessly links the mobility platform with control centers, third-party systems, and information and payment systems. It records vehicle utilization and provides relevant services for mobility management/traffic control in an online portal. With this acquisition, T-Systems International is poised to make significant strides in the MaaS industry.

“T-Systems is well established in the public transport sector and has a full-service portfolio for buses and trains. We hope the transaction will give us broader market access in the DACH region and synergies from joint product development, such as modular vehicle components in the Internet of Things,” explains Dr. Michael Gerhard, CEO of GeoMobile. Its solutions are used in twelve transport companies with over 20 million passengers daily.

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