Groupon on Move in Europe

Groupon's new deal with Deutsche Telekom will connect the company's local deals with mobile devices.

Image: Evlakhov Valeriy/Shutterstock

Groupon is making a move to gain ground in Europe, with the announcement today that it is partnering with Deutsche Telekom in the online and mobile local commerce business.

The move will give Telekom customers in Europe easy access to Groupon service through a “wide range of marketing and sales tools,” the companies said in a joint press release.

The initiatives, slated to begin over the next few months, according to a Reuters report, will range from promotion activities to integrating Groupon services into its selected fixed and mobile services, with Deutsche Telekom offering Groupon services directly to its customers. The company has 128 million mobile users, and operates 35 million fixed-network lines and about 17 million broadband lines.

It is the first time that Groupon has partnered with a multinational service provider to distribute its products and services across an international network, the release said.

Mobile represents a largely untapped avenue for Groupon and its daily deal rivals, but one that has potential to lead to big growth, if done right, one analyst told Portfolio.com recently.

Deutsche Telekom aims to generate revenues of between 2 billion and 3 billion euros ($2.6 billion to $3.8 billion) in the field of online services with private customers in 2015, German business daily Financial Times Deutschland reported.

The company is also overhauling its strategies for its U.S. wireless unit, T-Mobile USA, after AT&T dropped its planned $39 billion takeover of the unit, a source told Reuters Monday.