Vodafone, Altice, to deploy FTTH to 7 million German homes
Created October 17, 2022
News and BusinessVodafone Group Plc and Altice are creating FibreCo, a joint venture to deploy FTTH to up to 7 million homes over a 6-year period. Subject to closing conditions and regulatory approval, the €700 million venture is expected to close in H1 2023.
FibreCo will construct and operate the network, with around 80% of the roll-out focused on interested housing associations in Vodafone’s existing hybrid network footprint. The remaining 20% of the roll-out will be outside of Vodafone’s current footprint, focusing on neighbouring homes. FibreCo will offer wholesale access to all telecommunications service providers, to fully exploit the potential of the infrastructure.
Vodafone Germany will act as the anchor tenant, entering into an agreement with the FibreCo upon closing of the Transaction. Within FibreCo’s footprint, Vodafone Germany has committed to market FibreCo’s network to new customers on an exclusive basis, whilst Vodafone Germany’s existing network will continue to service customers who don’t wish to migrate to FTTH.
Nick Read, Vodafone’s group chief executive, commented, “This partnership builds on Vodafone’s significant next generation network with Altice’s industrial expertise and proven Fibre-to-the-Home construction capabilities enabling us to bring gigabit connectivity to even more customers in Germany. We are proud of our long-standing relationships with housing associations and pleased as a trusted provider to bring more connectivity options for tenants. This significant infrastructure investment supports the country’s social, economic and digital development and the broadband ambitions of the German government as part of Europe’s Digital Decade targets.”
David Drahi, co-CEO of Altice, commented, “We are delighted and honoured to join forces with Vodafone to build and operate a FTTH network connecting up to 7 million premises in Germany. Altice’s existing presence in Germany through Geodesia, its unique track record in operating over 45 million homes with the latest very-high speed fibre networks across Europe and the US, together with Vodafone’s competitive position as anchor tenant will help us establish one of the largest FTTH ventures in Europe. We have pioneered fibre joint ventures in France and Portugal, and are thus thrilled to be able to replicate such a feat in Germany with such a partner.”
For mlre information, visit www.vodafone.com
