Tank & Rast Picks Telekom for SD-WAN Connectivity

The Tank & Rast Group is a service provider on German motorways. The company is based in Bonn and operates the majority of motorway service stations and their filling stations in Germany.

In order to consistently drive forward the digital transformation, Tank & Rast has been working with digitalization partner Deutsche Telekom for years.

Specifically, this involves the digitalization of all business areas – from service stations and petrol stations to hotels and administration. The two companies have now extended and expanded their cooperation.

Fast and stable internet via fiber optics forms the basis for digitalization in all of Tank & Rast’s business areas.

Together with Telekom, Tank & Rast is building this data network and using it for existing and upcoming initiatives. These include the operation of digital cash registers and merchandise management systems, online ordering via terminals or the further expansion of the company’s e-mobility offering. "Through the expanded cooperation with Telekom, we are continuing on the path of digitalization of the Tank & Rast Group. With the expansion of the fiber optic network, we are creating the basis for offering our guests an even better digital customer experience as a leading service provider on German motorways," explains Peter Markus Löw, CEO of the Tank & Rast Group.

SD WAN: High speed for the data highway

Deutsche Telekom will connect Tank & Rast's over 500 locations on motorways, the company’s administrative functions and Tank & Rast's own data centre with fast, cloud-based Internet – so-called SD WAN. In technical terms, SD WAN stands for software-defined networking in the wide area network. It combines a wide variety of routes for data transport.

Customers need these flexible and yet secure connections because data traffic in the networks is increasingly rapidly. And because applications are increasingly no longer located in their own data centres, but in public clouds. This eliminates the time-consuming management of physical networks with distributed access nodes.

An important part of the cooperation will be the connection of the Tank & Rast operations to Telekom's high-performance fiber optic network. Fiber optics is the right technology for this because it is fast, stable and future-proof.

"We are the digitalization partner for Tank & Rast. Not only do we support their digital transformation, people along the motorways also benefit from this partnership. Whether e-mobility, autonomous driving, digital services or sustainable traffic management: the foundation is secure and stable high-speed connections. With our gigabit infrastructure, we are creating the conditions along the motorways for this growing demand for data and thereby supporting the mobility revolution," says Hagen Rickmann, Managing Director Business Customers at Telekom Deutschland GmbH.