Deutsche Telekom and EWE cooperate on VDSL expansion

Deutsche Telekom and EWE have agreed a cooperation to expand fibre optics in eight towns in Lower Saxony and in Bremerhaven.
The aim of the cooperation is to be able to supply more households with higher bandwidth through the coordinated expansion of networks using VDSL technology. Deutsche Telekom will start the expansion in the towns Bremerhaven, Wilhelmshaven, Emden and Stade. EWE will be carrying out the expansion in Leer, Vechta, Cloppenburg, Aurich and Delmenhorst via its wholly owned subsidiaries EWE NETZ and EWE TEL. The two companies will allow mutual access to their networks in order to be able to market high-speed broadband services to all customers. 

"This joint venture increases the attractiveness of the towns and offers many citizens broadband internet access," said Heiko Harms, Director of Networks, Information and Communications Technology for EWE AG.

"No single provider would be able to offer high-speed blanket coverage infrastructure; that would be too expensive.
 In Lower Saxony, we have found a strong partner in EWE," stressed Timotheus Höttges, Board Member of Deutsche Telekom Sales & Service, T-Home. The details of the expansion have yet to be finalised. However, the companies have already signed a letter of intent for the nine towns.

Deutsche Telekom and EWE regard such joint ventures as necessary in order to be able to achieve the broadband strategy targets previously put forward by the German Federal government. "The target of having 50 megabits per second available to all households by 2018 is an ambitious one. If Germany wishes not to fall behind in this global knowledge-based society or its modern internet developments, expansion of the infrastructure is essential," Höttges continued. "However, this requires an investment-friendly regulatory environment which takes into account both long-term risk spreading of the high investment amounts among the market participants as well as providing financial flexibility for infrastructure investments.

Further investment in expansion must be made in order for Germany to be able to build modern infrastructure nationwide. Joint ventures between companies in the sector should therefore be promoted and subsidised. Deutsche Telekom and EWE are ready to cooperate on the expansion of the infrastructure. "The joint expansion of modern network technology can allow the sector to provide an important boost for Germany as a business location as part of the economic recovery plan," said EWE Board of Management member Heiko Harms.