Simon Hobbs You were born 46 years ago, raised by your grandparents — good people but not a lot of money around. What sort of person did that make you? 


René Obermann My grandfather taught me conservative values: to be honest and straightforward and to work hard. He taught me 
to be self-sufficient, but not necessarily rich. Enough to make a good living, sure. 


SH After your compulsory military service you were an apprentice at BMW for two years. Why did you switch away to study business at Münster? 


RE I always wanted to study Economics. At BMW there was a practical programme with a lot of learning across the entire company. At first, I didn’t 
have enough money to fund my studies so I started this little business from my apartment called ABC Telecom. I went around in my old BMW reselling answer phones, paging devices and fax machines. 


SH And how did that go down at college? 


RE Initially very well. In the mornings I did my office work and had customers come in during the day; in between I went to my classes. But over time I had my first couple of employees and my business grew, so eventually I had to choose and I chose my business. 


SH Eventually, Hutchison Whampoa picked you up. How did that happen? 


RE At the time, Hutchison Whampoa came into Germany and were looking for a marketing partner in telecom distribution services because they were trying to get into the mobile business. They needed German marketing and sales knowledge and they picked us because we seemed agile and entrepreneurial. They bought into the business and became minority partners, and I stayed for seven years. 


SH And this is where you met Hans Snook, the founding CEO of Orange, whom you have described a great leader. 


RE He had a clear vision and high discipline in managing the business. He was involved and very close to the market customers. And he continuously strove for Orange to be different from other networks; Orange created a great story at the time — the Wireless Future. I liked that and learned a lot from him. 


SH So why, at 34, did you break from them and go to rival Deutsche Telekom? 


RE I transitioned from a reselling business, which Hutchison in Germany was, to join the network where you can actually design products and services and make the future of mobile happen. That was the fascinating part.


SH What did you learn about taking your entrepreneurial spirit and slotting it into a more bureaucratic organisation? 


RE I learned to be a bit more patient in the corporate environment. That was difficult. 


SH What challenges do you seek going forward? 


RE There are so many opportunities for differentiation in this industry. I’d like to take the company to the next level of innovation. 


SH Do you see yourself in the same position in 10 years time? 


RE I don’t know but I do imagine myself being consistent. If you look at successful companies they usually have a certain continuity in the leadership. When leadership changes every two or three years that is not good for the company. 


Curriculum vitae

Born: 1963, Düsseldorf, Germany

1984—1986: Undertook business traineeship with BMW AG in Munich

1987: Set up ABC Telekom in Münster

1991: Managing Partner of Hutchison Mobilfunk, successor of ABC Telecom

1993—1998: Chairman of Hutchison Mobilfunk’s management board.

1998—2000: Managing director of sales 
at T-Mobile Deutschland

2000—2002: Chief executive officer of T-Mobile Deutschland

2002—2006: CEO of T-Mobile International 

2006 — present: Chairman of the Management Board of Deutsche 
Telekom A