ANGA Cable 2010 – Cologne. “Cable has established itself as an alternative to DSL, and is leader in competition on price and technology,” said Hans-Joachim Otto MdB, Parliamentary State Secretary, Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.
Speaking at the opening of the event, Otto said “Competition is the best motor for investment and innovation. Thanks to DOCSIS 3.0, 3.5 million households are now within reach of fast broadband.” According to the government, at the end of 2009 there were 25 million broadband homes in the country, up 2.4 million from the previous year.
Government policy is to offer broadband access to every citizen. “We are on the right track now, but our challenge are the rural areas. Our goal is to have 1 Mbps access to all people by the end of 2010; our second goal is to have 50 Mbps for three quarter of all households.” Of course, internet via satellite already makes this possible.
In Otto’s view, the market should have three stages: as much competiton as possible; cooperation when possible and state help only when needed. “We encourage cable operator to work together with mobile broadband operators to reach the fringe areas.”