Telekom Austria Group to Turn Telephone Boots into Charging Stations
- Telekom Austria Group to launch a trend-setting initiative for E-mobility in Austria: Telephone boots will be turned into charging stations. First prototype to go on stream today. Service will be free-of-charge during the test phase;
- Charging stations will leverage the existing infrastructure and offer convenient payment possibilities via SMS, paybox and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) chips;
- A total of 30 charging stations for recharging e-vehicles, e-scooters and e-bikes is planned until year-end 2010;
Vienna, May 4, 2010: The Telekom Austria Group (VSE: TKA, OTC US: TKAGY) today announced the launch of the first prototype of a telephone boot with an integrated charging station. This trendsetting initiative in the area of E-mobility marks a further important milestone in the implementation of the company’s environmental activities. The Telekom Austria Group is a member of the Austrian Mobile Power (AMP), the country’s largest E-mobility platform, and is making a significant contribution to fostering e-mobility Austria-wide. During the test phase the service will be free of charge. Following commercial launch, charging stations will offer the possibility to pay via mobile phone using text messages, paybox or a RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) card with a RFID chip.
Telekom Austria Group’s charging stations will leverage the existing infrastructure: Currently, the company operates roughly 13,500 telephone boots countrywide, of which 700 are multimedia stations. In the first rollout phase, the focus will be on multimedia stations that offer on-street parking opportunities for electric vehicles. By installing additional charging points, each telephone booth will be able to recharge more than one vehicle at a time. By year-end 2010 a total of 30 charging stations will go on stream.
Hannes Ametsreiter, CEO Telekom Austria Group, said: “We are bundling our strengths from different corporate segments to realize this highly innovative project: We are combining the company’s fixed net infrastructure with our long-standing expertise in the mobility area, for instance, with successful services such as mobile parking. This also applies to mobile payment and identification systems, where we can rely on the proven industry track record of paybox austria. By joining forces, we are enabling a future-proof service for our customers, making a significant contribution to improving the country’s CO2 balance.”
According to a survey of the VCÖ (Verkehsclub Österreich) – the principal Austrian organisation for environmentally sustainable, socially just and economically efficient mobility – the number of electric vehicles will significantly increase in Austria over the next few years, with e-scooters exceeding the 60,000 and e-cars the 115,000 mark by 2015. Furthermore, this upward trend is set to rise on an ongoing basis reaching the 405,000 e-vehicle mark by the year 2020. The e-bike market is also showing considerable growth potential going forward.
Notes to the Editors
The introduction of the charging stations is in line with Telekom Austria Group’s ecological commitment. The company will use renewable energy to operate its charging station network in line with its best-practice standards applied in the company’s headquarters, where electric power is generated from a small-scale hydro-power system. The same applies to the company’s vehicle fleet, which currently comprises five hybrid vehicles, a Tesla roadster, 14 natural gas passenger cars as well as a number of e-bikes. This ecologically sound service will be further expanded in future.
Contact:
Elisabeth Mattes
Telekom Austria Group’s Spokeswoman
Tel: +43 664 331 2730
E-Mail: elisabeth.mattes@telekom.at
