A report published in The New York Times says network operator Deutsche Telekom’s U.S. subsidiary, T-Mobile USA, is planning to move more of its communication devices over to Google’s open source operating system, Android, built for mobile phones. Last year, the company announced they debuted the first smartphone to use Android software, the Dream, with hardware produced by HTC.

The Dream, part of an open standards effort of the Open Handset Alliance (Google, T-Mobile and HTC are all members), has since been joined by other Google-powered mobiles, with many other companies, including computer maker Lenovo, Sony Ericsson, Samsung and Acer. In September 2008, Motorola also confirmed that it was working on hardware products that would run Android. T-Mobile, it seems, is looking to move the platform around.

The Times reports T-Mobile spokesman Peter Dobrow, who declined to discuss specific products, said the company has “several devices” planned for Android. Confidential documents obtained by the Times reveal T-Mobile is planning to release a home telephone running on Android early next year, followed by a tablet computer.

Although T-Mobile isn’t the only telecom company interested in running mobiles and smartphones on Android, the company’s plan to use the platform on PCs and home phones suggests a broadening of acceptance in the way open source software is viewed. T-Mobile’s decision to adopt the platform, which operators Verizon and AT&T (the two largest) have so far ignored, may help pave the way for an increasingly accepted, if largely untested, format.  

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