Telekom Austria steps up its Fiber to the X plans

Telekom Austria (NYSE: TKA) likes what it sees with its hybrid fiber/copper VDSL network, so it's going to expand the network footprint to cover 40 percent, or 1.59 million of the country's homes by the end of the year. Currently offering 30 Mbps downstream speeds, Telekom Austria believes it will hit its goal of two million homes by 2013.

But Telekom Austria's last mile ambitions don't end with VDSL. As it waits to get the right regulatory framework in place, the service provider is going to expand its Fiber to the Home (FTTH) trials. Right now, Telekom Austria is trialing FTTH trial in Villach with plans to launch a trial in Klagenfurt in October and Vienna in Q1 2011. The FTTH networks deployed in Villach and Klagenfurt could reach 97,000 homes.

Much like the U.S. market, Telekom Austria is looking to wireless and next-gen FTTX drivers to offset ongoing traditional landline losses. During what it says was a "challenging operating environment," Telekom Austria slowed fixed line losses in the first half of 2010 while increasing its mobile subscriber base by 5.9 percent, to 19.2 million. The service provider also revised its full-year outlook, predicting revenues of $6.5 billion.

For more:
- TeleGeography has this story
- see Telekom Austria's earnings release

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