Düsseldorf - Mobile City to Mobile Capital
North Rhine-Westphalia’s capital is consistently strengthening its position as the most important location for the mobile phone market in Germany. In the Düsseldorf region, about 5,000 employees work in over 1,500 ICT businesses, while more than half of Germany's SIM cards come from Düsseldorf.
In 1989, the Düsseldorf company Mannesmann Mobilfunk GmbH was the first privately owned business to be granted a digital mobile network licence. The D2 mobile network went live in June 1992. E-Plus, also based in in Düsseldorf joined the group of mobile network providers in 1994, along with Deutsche Telecom. These developments first coined the term ‘Mobile City Düsseldorf’ – since the beginning of the 1990s, the mobile phone sector’s leading companies have been based in North Rhine-Westphalia’s capital.
With nearly 110 million active SIM cards in use today, Germany’s mobile phone sector has seen one of the most significant market penetrations in the history of communication technology over the last 20 years. A leading medium of an entire generation, mobile phones are influencing key processes in business and administration and new business areas in the mobile sector are driving growth for an entire industry and are becoming key technologies in numerous related business areas.
Today, pioneering ideas and developments in the mobile phone sector still originate in Düsseldorf, making the city the main hotspot for innovations and new technology in the sector.
Experts in the mobile phone sector value Düsseldorf
Mobile Capital Düsseldorf is not just a slogan – the city maintains a central position in both the German and international mobile phone sector. As a business location, Düsseldorf is attracting enterprises of all levels and sub-sectors, from Asian infrastructure giants to innovative medium-sized local companies.
Various large mobile phone businesses value the importance of Düsseldorf as the sector capital.
"Our success story is closely connected to Düsseldorf", says Friedrich Joussen, Chairman of Vodafone Deutschland’s Management Board.
Michael Lemke, Senior Marketing Manager at Chinese supplier Huawei – who moved their European Headquarters from London to Düsseldorf three years ago - states: "Düsseldorf is justifiably called the Mobile Capital. It is the centre of the mobile phone industry".
And, according to Nicolas Biagosch, CEO at German network provider simyo, "Düsseldorf offers an innovative business environment, which you won’t find anywhere else in Germany."
Blackberry manufacturer Research in Motion (RIM) explains why the company moved major business divisions to Düsseldorf in 2009: "Our main reasons were the synergy effects we can achieve within the Düsseldorf Mobile Cluster."
Finally, Dr Hans Christoph Quelle, owner of Secusmart and inventor of the 'tap-proof' mobile phone used by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, explains that "we haven't doubted for a moment that the Mobile Capital Düsseldorf is the only possible location for Secusmart." And Dr Eckerhard Cordes, CEO of the Metro Group, adds: "Düsseldorf is an exemplary location because of its business-friendly economic policy and easy access to the city’s decision makers. As innovative drivers for our sector we are also finding important local technology partners to further optimise our trading processes".
Düsseldorf Mobile Capital is growing
A large number of mobile phone companies, components manufacturers and subsidiaries are continuing to open in or relocate to Düsseldorf. Hisense, one of China's largest manufacturers of multimedia and telecommunications equipment, is moving a representative office to Düsseldorf's Seestern office complex, and its European Headquarters from Belgium to Düsseldorf.
Sycada, which has been producing GPS systems for many years, is expanding its presence in Germany with a new Düsseldorf sales office. In addition to GPS systems, Sycada also offers customised software solutions for fleet management and car pool controlling. Using GPS tracking and tracing, transport processes can be monitored all the way between manufacturer and customer, transmitting current positions, direction or speed.
Vodafone is currently conducting a near field communication (NFC) test in Düsseldorf for mobile payments, using an integrated NFC Chip to make smaller purchases using mobile technology. If NFC payments are used commercially in the future, this will be another innovation from the Mobile Capital Düsseldorf.
The Vodafone Test & Innovation Centre in Düsseldorf is revered in expert circles, and hosts a high-tech laboratory where new mobile technologies and applications are tested for practical suitability. Vodafone is also hiring the laboratory out to its partners and other companies, who in turn benefit from Vodafone’s experienced staff and the excellent test conditions. For companies like Huawei and ZTE, who moved from Munich to Düsseldorf in 2007, the laboratory was the key reason for relocating to Düsseldorf and they are now in close proximity to Vodafone in the Seestern high-tech office complex.
Japanese mobile components manufacturing company, Yokowo, moved its European Headquarters from Finland to the Düsseldorf Seestern complex in 2010. Yokowo produces key components and devices for mobile communication and data transfer. Yokowo parts are used in most smartphones but also for data transfer in the trade and medical industries.
Out There Media, international leader in mobile phone advertising, is now opening its first German office in Düsseldorf. The company has partner deals with 18 network providers and can reach over 200 million customers, so Düsseldorf is pleased to welcome them and further diversify the mobile telecoms cluster.
A Vodafone spin-off company, Appseleration (formerly Vodafone’s Application Factory division), has recently opened in the Düsseldorf Seestern office complex. Appselleration has been acting as an independent company since June 2010.
For further information on Düsseldorf’s mobile phone and ICT sector, see Düsseldorf’s listing.
