The European Commission has approved a joint venture between Vodafone and Altice to roll out fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) across Germany.
The new company, named FibreCo, plans to bring FTTH connections to as many as seven million homes over a six-year timeframe.
Nick Read, CEO of Vodafone Group, said:
“This partnership leverages Vodafone’s extensive next-generation network together with Altice’s industrial expertise and proven FTTH construction capabilities, allowing us to deliver gigabit connectivity to many more customers across Germany.
We value our long-standing relationships with housing associations and are pleased to offer tenants additional reliable connectivity options.
This significant infrastructure investment contributes to the country’s social, economic and digital development and supports the German government’s broadband objectives under Europe’s Digital Decade targets.”
Because the project is large-scale and involves major telecom operators, it required approval from the European Commission to ensure it complies with merger and competition rules. According to German business daily Handelsblatt, Brussels has now granted that approval.
David Drahi, co-CEO of Altice, added:
“We are honoured to join forces with Vodafone to build and operate an FTTH network that will connect up to seven million premises in Germany.
Altice’s footprint in Germany through Geodesia, our track record operating very high-speed fibre networks that serve more than 45 million homes across Europe and the US, and Vodafone’s role as an anchor tenant, position us to establish one of the largest FTTH ventures in Europe.
Having pioneered fibre joint ventures in France and Portugal, we are excited to replicate that success in Germany alongside this strong partner.”
As part of the agreement, Vodafone will receive up to €1.2 billion from Altice.
(Photo by Peter Burdon on Unsplash)
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