DT opens up VDSL network

Deutsche Telekom (DT) is opening up its VDSL network to competitors and will be selling a wholesale service. DT says the move to offer wholesale is voluntary and happening without regulatory pressure.

Announced during a press conference at the Cebit trade show in Germany, the VDSL wholesale service will offer up to 50 Mpbs. DT expects to initially charge around $38 per line, with prices coming down as more operators sign up. Everyone gets the same price and would share the same risk.

From a regulatory perspective, DT gets to demonstrate the ability to create a competitive market without having regulators involved. It also builds on DT's desire to get its competitors to invest more into building out broadband infrastructure in Germany. This fall, DT said it was going to work with its competitors to build out fiber networks for delivering both TV and consumer broadband.

Analysts see DT's move to work with other phone companies as a pragmatic strategy to stem the tide of cable TV companies moving in to compete and a preemptive move to keep government regulators from getting involved.

The German government wants 75 percent of households to have access to speeds of at least 50 Mbps by 2014 and all households to have at least 1 Mbps access by 2010. Broadband build-out costs are so high for the scale of network required that DT wants to share both the burden and the reward.

For more:
- Network World covers the story [1].