Life isn't exactly a bed of roses if you're a tariff monster. The high-price monster about tariff misperceptions, the consequences for a monster's mere existence and his relocation plans.

I have always really liked it here, but now I just cannot stand it any more. This was not an easy decision to make, but as a tariff monster you simply cannot escape your own skin: I'm going to withdraw from the mobile phone industry, this breeding ground of "cost airbags" and of this fickle lack of basic charges and contracts. And now it has dawned on me why more and more people are suddenly able to find their way around this array of mobile phone tariffs with no trouble at all. > More...

Antonia Used Alonso, Senior Manager of Data Services & Content at O₂ and expat of Telefónica, talks about international connections via Internet telephony

If you live overseas, Internet telephony isn't just any type of connection; it's the most flexible ticket you can get for that virtual short trip to your godmother in Spain or any other place in the world. > More

Wolfram Krehl talks about the benefits of planning holidays the modern way by smartphone

Only a few weeks to go and it's off on holiday. Every year, the same story: my wife and I are a perfectly coordinated team when it comes to dividing up the jobs. My better half looks after the travel reservations and organising the suitcases, while I am in charge of the electronics, setting the route, selecting the most important sights on the way and generally for all logistical tasks. But I have to admit that the new laws on mobile phone tariffs and data roaming will transform my duties. > More

Andrea Folgueiras, Managing Director, Network Technology, Telefónica O₂ Germany, on women in executive positions, technology and outdated clichés

The boy who sat next to me in eighth grade had no understanding of algebra. He hardly passed any tests. Funny, I thought back then. Neither do I understand today why some people react so surprised to be introduced to a female CTO. > More

Andreas Jochums, Manager for Mobile Internet at Telefónica O₂ Germany, prophesies a great future for the iPad among male buyers

On my back, a newspaper at the end of outstretched arms. Or lounging with hips at 120°, legs resting on the coffee table and a newspaper on my thighs. These are my two favorites for a relaxed evening on the couch in the period between the end of the soccer season and the start of the World Cup. We don't yet have an iPad in my household but when we do it will have rosy prospects. > More

Mike Schwanke about a fulminant start at the O₂ World Hamburg

First! Anyone who can develop a bit of sporting ambition knows the feeling: Being at the top feels great. Yesterday, Lady Gaga performed at the O₂ World in Hamburg - the very first concert of her "Monster Ball Tour" in Germany. There it was, this special feeling: We were the first to have her! > More

Anika Luther on career opportunities at Telefónica O₂ Germany

Once in finance, always in finance? That was the question I had started asking myself more and more frequently in the mornings. But I really wanted to break into a different field. At the same time I kept thinking "How will that look on my CV?" I didn't want to jeopardise my career with the change. At Telefónica O₂ Germany, I've now taken a rather unusual step and made the move from finance to marketing. > More

Oliver Schmitt on mobile communication for hearing-impaired people

There are people like me who can't manage without world and business news on their way to work or a quick chat over a lunchtime sandwich. Yet restricted access to communication and information - however hard to imagine - is part of everyday life for some people. This is by no means voluntary: there are 80,000 hearing-impaired people living in Germany. Thanks to new technologies, they are moving a step closer to a world without barriers. How is this happening? > More

Shop Manager Carmen Bzik knows that your dream mobile is not only available for auction on Ebay

3..2..1.. what a bummer - got outbidden in the very last second again! My friend Bine is sitting in front of the PC hanging her head in bewilderment. "I want the new Satio from Sony Ericsson now, not in ten months when my contract expires." Grinningly, I put a glass of red wine in Bine's hand and explain her how she can quite conveniently get the mobile phone she desires... > More