The German unit of UK-based mobile operator Vodafone is to keep its focus on mobile rather than fixed-line, Vodafone D2 CEO Friedrich Joussen has told journalists.
He was quoted saying that if the company has “a euro to spare”, it would “prefer to invest…
The German unit of UK-based mobile operator Vodafone is to keep its focus on mobile rather than fixed-line, Vodafone D2 CEO Friedrich Joussen has told journalists.
He was quoted saying that if the company has “a euro to spare”, it would “prefer to invest it in mobile”, due to the fact that it is less regulated than fixed-line and the “much healthier” LTE market.
D2 pays incumbent Deutsche Telkom an annual E500m for last-mile connections, having reported revenue of E2.1bn for the year ended March, Joussen said.
This comes as many mobile companies look to add fixed-line services to their offering, in a bid to retain customers. In contrast to what is happening in Germany, Vodafone has indicated a willingness to participate in smaller scale consolidation in Europe, presumably to sell more services in existing markets.
Another reason for the renewed interest in fixed-line, both in Europe and further afield, is the growing demand for data. Despite the higher capacity of 4G networks, bankers and consultants say fibre will be better able to handle demand than mobile.
In fixed-line, D2 (formerly known as Arcor) competes with Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica’s Hansenet.
