Deutsche Telekom has got conditional approval from the country's telecom regulator to move ahead with upgrading its existing copper plant with VDSL2 and vectoring technology to more effectively compete with cable competitors.
In a draft decision delivered today, the regulator said that the telco will be required to provide competitors such as Vodafone Germany access to the VDSL2 and vectored networks but deny it in areas where other alternative network facilities are present.
The move to deploy VDSL2 with vectoring is clearly a defensive one.
Already, cable operators such as Kabel Deutschland and Liberty Global's (Nasdaq: LBTYA) Unity Media can deliver speeds ranging from 50-150 Mbps for consumers, for what they claim are lower prices than the incumbent telco can deliver.
Although Deutsche Telekom is rolling out fiber to the home in select areas, the service provider has previously said that it is upgrading its existing copper network with VDSL2 and vectoring is a near-term fix that will enable it to deliver data services of up to 100 Mbps.
Last December, the telco announced a €30 billion ($39 billion) plan to battle competitive threats from cable operators in Germany and improve its last-mile wireline and long-term evolution (LTE)-based wireless network.
Deutsche Telekom's upcoming VDSL2 and vectoring deployments signify a growing trend amongst service providers in Europe and the United States. AT&T (NYSE: T), TDS Telecom (NYSE: TDS), Belgacom, TDC Denmark, Telekom Austria and Türk Telekom are taking the lead with various deployments and trials.
For more:
- Reuters has this article
Special report: The 10 hottest wireline technologies in 2013
Related articles:
Deutsche Telekom lays out $39B FTTC, wireless broadband plan
Deutsche Telekom mulls vectored DSL
Deutsche Telekom to bring FTTH to apartment complexes
Deutsche Telekom conducts 512G transmission experiment