German cable network operator Unitymedia, which is owned by US company Liberty Global, has announced the addition of mobile voice and data services to its product portfolio. The new service is provided over the wireless network of Telefonica Germany (O2). A total of three tariffs are available, all of which include free calls within the cableco’s fixed line and mobile networks, and up to five SIM cards can be ordered per household. Entry-level ‘Friends&Family’ tariff offers calls to other German networks at EUR0.15 (USD0.2) per minute with no monthly subscription, while the ‘Friends&Family Surf’ plan costs EUR5 per month and includes unlimited mobile surfing with a smartphone (maximum download speed of 7.2Mbps for first 200MB of data; speed falls to GPRS rates thereafter). The ‘All Net + Surf’ tariff includes the mobile surf flat-rate, as well as unlimited calls to all domestic fixed and mobile networks, for EUR35 per month.
Meanwhile, Unitymedia has also announced plans to roll out its ‘Fiber Power’ broadband service to Limburg, Bad Camberg and the surrounding areas from 22 December. From that date over 19,200 households in these regions will have access to the company’s triple-play services of high speed broadband with maximum download speeds of 128Mbps, telephony and digital TV. By the end of the year Unitymedia plans to enable 90% of its connected homes to benefit from the upgrade, which is based on EuroDOCSIS 3.0 technology.