ANGA CABLE 2011 – COLOGNE. The ANGA Cable show opened its doors this morning with over 15% more floor space and the introduction of a second exhibition level in the hall.
“Cable is the driver of broadband market,” said Thomas Braun, president ANGA association of German cable operators, during his opening speech. “Of the new broadband customers, 39% choose cable. This is a very positive development, also for association.”
ANGA reports that more members are signing up and that there are now more than 150 companies in the association. “This includes most cable operators, also small and medium-sized operators. We now represent 18 million homes out of 19 million cabled homes in the country.”
Broadband cable now has a potential reach of 24 millions homes (passed) in Germany, with about one-third offering 100 Mbps broadband speeds.
Hitting out at Deutsche Telekom, who is asking the government for more telecoms regulation for the cable operators, Braun said “Telekom should compete, not go to the regulator.”
Politicians would like to see the whole country have access to broadband internet, with 98% of the population being offered speeds of 50 Mbps. Cable has taken a leading role in providing broadband access, “but not everything that is a wish of the politicians can be done technically.”
Braun said that for remote areas broadband access via two-way satellite could be a good solution.
Cable will continue to provide analogue television to its subscribers, although this will mean big investments after satellite analogue switch-off on April 30, 2012. “Although cable is 100% digital, we will continue to provide analogue TV,” said Braun, “Cable can do everything at the same time.”
