Vodafone steps up VDSL rollout

According to a report by German business daily Handelsblatt, which cites confirmation from a Vodafone spokesman, telecoms operator Vodafone Germany plans to deploy its own VDSL network to 750 municipalities. Under the first phase of the network deployment, Vodafone will roll out VDSL in around 2,700 switches on its existing fixed network, enabling it to offer VDSL services at theoretical download speeds of up to 50Mbps to all households located within one kilometre from a switch. For further expansion, Vodafone requires access to incumbent fixed line operator Deutsche Telekom’s (DT’s) fibre backbone and is waiting for the Federal Network Agency (FNA) to set the tariffs for such access, expected in mid-March. Vodafone’s VDSL rollout is slated for completion by the end the summer and with the network expected to cover a total of four million households. According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, Vodafone began marketing its VDSL services in the city of Heilbronn in Baden-Wurttemberg in September 2009, following the launch of a pilot network in mid-August in cooperation with DT.