For example, former O.tel.o chief executive Ulf Bohle decided to market O.tel.o's wireline telephone service exclusively to consumers willing to commit to O.tel.o as their exclusive service provider.

FORBES: Ulrich Hartmann's second act

Meanwhile, O.tel.o's cable TV business (second, after Deutsche Telekom's CATV operation) is cash-flow positive.

FORBES: Ulrich Hartmann's second act

Geitner has scrapped Bohle's marketing plan and is offering O.tel.o service on a call-by-call basis.

FORBES: Ulrich Hartmann's second act

O.tel.o is now Germany's fourth-largest wireline phone company, after Deutsche Telekom, Mobilcom and Arcor.

FORBES: Ulrich Hartmann's second act

Hartmann thought he had a deal with BellSouth to increase its O.tel.o stake and manage the business.

FORBES: Ulrich Hartmann's second act

Veba owns 51.25% of the O.tel.o venture, with German utility RWE owning 48.75%.

FORBES: Ulrich Hartmann's second act

Sniffing Germany's new winds of liberalization for opportunity, Hartmann decided to launch a brand new business for Veba: its O.tel.o telecommunications group.

FORBES: Ulrich Hartmann's second act

Result: By last summer O.tel.o's calling volume was far below plan.

FORBES: Ulrich Hartmann's second act

O.tel.o overall, he says, will turn cash-flow positive in 2002, a big swing from this year's likely loss of DM2 billion, half of which is eaten by Veba.

FORBES: Ulrich Hartmann's second act

O.tel.o is in all the hot telecom businesses.

FORBES: Ulrich Hartmann's second act

But O.tel.o has been a drag on Veba.

FORBES: Ulrich Hartmann's second act

Contactos: Djibril Kebe o Isabelle Le Fournis, el servicio de prensa de la UNESCO, tel.

UNESCO: SERVICIO DE PRENSA