A new era has started in the German telecommunications market today, April 1, 2014, with Vodafone and Kabel Deutschland, the two strongest competitors of national telco Deutsche Telekom, joining forces.
“Under a joint roof, we will offer a unique portfolio in future: mobile services, fixed-line services, broadband internet and television from a single source,” Jens Schulte-Bockum, CEO of Vodafone Deutschland, said in Düsseldorf.
Vodafone and Kabel Deutschland have a total of 40 million customers. 14,000 employees generate a yearly turnover of €11.5 billion for both companies.
There will be no changes for existing customers on April 1.
The commercial kick-off will take place shortly and consumers will then, for example, be able to sign up for Kabel Deutschland products in Vodafone shops and vice versa.
The EU Commission approved the take-over of Kabel Deutschland by Vodafone in September 2013.
A new website www.nochmehrnetz.de has been set up to inform customers of both companies about the merger and the joint offerings.