German cable operator Unitymedia will offer 1Gbps internet access in Frankfurt from October 2018.
The move will turn Frankfurt into Unitymedia’s second Gigabit city following the rollout in Bochum; the deployment in further cities is to be announced shortly.
The Gigabit connection will be available across Unitymedia’s entire coverage area in Frankfurt and can be accessed by around 380,000 households, corresponding with 90% of all Frankfurt households.
For the high-speed upgrade, Unitymedia is equipping its fibre-optic-based cable network with gigabit-capable network elements and introducing the new cable standard DOCSIS 3.1. The service will provide a data rate of up to 1,000Mbps for downloads and up to 50Mbps for uploads.
For new customers, the Gigabit tariff will cost €99.99 per month with a minimum contract term of 24 months. In Bochum, Unitymedia currently offers 1Gbps access for just €49.99 per month. This is a temporary special price in the first Gigabit city, a Unitymedia spokesperson told Broadband TV News.
Frankfurt’s upgrade to become the first metropolitan area in German federal state Hesse with city-wide Gigabit coverage is part of the Europe-wide GIGAWorld initiative of Unitymedia’s parent group Liberty Global. The company will soon announce its Gigabit expansion plans based on DOCSIS 3.1 for other European countries.
[Update] October 31, 2018, 15:30 CET: Unitymedia has launched the 1Gbps internet access service in Frankfurt today.
