DT subsidiary T-Systems launches Toll4Europe consortium

via Flickr © Pistols Drawn (CC BY 2.0)

via Flickr © Pistols Drawn (CC BY 2.0)

  • Big Euro IoT project lead by Deutsche Telekom subsdiary
  • Toll4Europe toll boxes will begin being introduced in 2018

T-Systems, Deutsche Telekom’s global IT services arm, has formed a joint venture with  Daimler and DKV Euro Service GmbH + Co. KG with the aim of offering a service which “reduces the complexity between national toll chargers and service providers participating in the European Electronic Toll Service (EETS) for vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tons.”

The EETS was set up by the European Commission about eight years ago and under it a road user signs a single contract with an EETS provider in order to pay toll charges across Europe through one electronic system. The T-Systems JV, rejoicing under the name ‘Toll4Europe’ (like ‘Song for Europe’, but significantly more downbeat), operates under the relevant EC’s directive and will enable service providers of all sizes to offer their customers an EETS service as a sales partner to Toll4Europe.

The general idea is to produce a single ‘box’ which can travel all over Europe with its truck and log all the geo information necessary to aggregate  the charges via the service provider, across the  Toll4Europe platform, and on to the relevant toll chargers:  entities such as motorway, tunnel and bridge operators.

The three partners say they all bring significant complementary smarts to the project: T-Systems will be the majority 55 per cent shareholder and brings technology experience and sales partner management (it’s already been 14 years in tolls). Daimler brings its expertise in integrating box and truck while DKV is already a big toll business participant with 25 years’ experience and 140,000 customers under its belt.

The introduction of the toll box is planned for 2018 and coverage will be granted to   Belgium, Germany, France, Austria and Poland. The plan is to integrate Italy, Portugal, Spain and Hungary right from the start . All responsible competition authorities had previously given their approval for the joint venture, claims the company.

The UK is absent from the participating country list not, I suspect, due to any anti-Brexit animus but rather because we have next to no toll roads, even fewer toll bridges and only one big tunnel.  

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