Vodafone Deutschland has commenced the rollout of high-speed internet access with a data rate of up to 1Gbps for downloads on its cable network.
The upload data rate is currently up to 50Mbps. “We chose the speed because we can make it available in the individual buildings’ networks without major optimisation efforts,” a Vodafone spokesman told Broadband TV News. The company is, however, already working on a higher upload data rate of up to 100Mbps, but it can’t be said at this stage when it will be introduced and how it affects existing customers, according to the spokesman.
The Gigabit service launches in Nuremberg and Landshut. These were the first two towns in which Vodafone switched off analogue TV and radio channels and introduced the new cable standard DOCSIS 3.1 on which the Gigabit service is based.
By the end of the year, around five million people in Bavaria alone will be able to sign up for 1Gbps access – equivalent to around three-quarters of Vodafone’s Bavarian cable households.
In all 13 German federal states served by the company, a total of more than 12 million people are to be provided with the Gigabit service by the end of the year. By mid-2019, Vodafone plans to serve 16 million people with 1Gbps access and 22 million people by the end of 2019.
By the end of 2020, the Gigabit service will be available to around 12.7 million and thus almost all Vodafone cable households. If the antitrust authorities approve the planned acquisition of Unitymedia, Vodafone intends to offer Gigabit speeds for 50 million people in the combined networks by 2022 – and thus for almost two-thirds of all Germans.
Cable customers in the served areas can book the high-speed service Red Internet & Phone 1000 Cable with immediate effect. The monthly costs amount to €19.99 in the first year. From the 13th month, the Gigabit service costs €69.99 per month.
In the first Gigabit cities Nuremberg, Landshut, Dingolfing and Fürth, Vodafone provides a special offer: Customers signing up for the new tariff by the end of the year will receive the Gigabit connection for the price of a 500Mbps connection. This corresponds to a monthly discount of €20 from the second year of the contract. The base price will then be €49.99 per month – permanently.
Unitymedia has been offering 1Gbps internet since May 2018, starting in Bochum, followed by further cities.
