Deutscher Kabelverband, the trade association representing the leading German cable operators Kabel Deutschland, Kabel BW and Unity Media, has said that its members more than tripled their broadband subscriber count in 2006.
The number of broadband clients grew from 114,000 to 390,000 in 2006, and as of the end of the year 293,000 households subscribed to cable telephony, up from a mere 63,000 12 months earlier. The number of (premium) pay-TV customers meanwhile stood at 1,234,000 at the end of 2006, up from 575,000 a year earlier.
Deutscher Kabelverband expects its members’ service uptake to continue to grow fast due to continued investments in network upgrades, extending the reach of two-way triple play services from 13.5 million to 19 million homes in 2007.
Kabel Deutschland, Kabel BW and Unity Media say they invested €365 million in 2006 and will follow up with a further €512 million this year. Kabel BW also recently said it expects to end the current major upgrades and capital expenditure programmes in 2008 and at the same time reach profitability. DK