In case you hadn’t read it here or here, Telefonica just snapped up the Telecom Italia German operations under the name of HanseNet; The latest in a long line of mergers and acquisitions in the German Fixed Broadband Market. Earlier this year United Internet AG purchased the DSL assets of FreeNet and the Tiscali/Ecotel/Nacamar saga seems to be over.
Mergers and acquisitions aren’t a surprise considering that the overall market is in turmoil and many of the Carriers in Europe are looking to re-align their business around their core competencies. All of this activity has left the German Market with 4 real Consumer Broadband Providers:
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- Deutsche Telekom with 11.2 + Million subscribers
- United Internet with 3.5+ Million subscribers
- Vodafone (Arcor) with 3.3+ Million subscribers
- Telefonica (HanseNet) with 2.5+ Million subscribers
Over the recent years, due to a plethora of Service Providers, the German consumer broadband market competition is extremely fierce. Promotions are driving subscriber uptake but in a mature market a good chunk of those subscribers are coming from other providers. There is quite a bit of churn and I’m sure the top carriers in Germany are hoping that this consolidation can help stabilize the market a bit.
The most recent financial news from Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom and QSC shows promise with all of them reporting positive numbers. Hopefully the others will soon follow suit.
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