German cable network operator Unitymedia, which is owned by UK-based Liberty Global, will begin introducing download speeds of up to 400Mbps across its footprint from the start of next month. Around 40% of the 12.7 million households passed by Unitymedia’s cable network in the federal states of North-Rhine Westphalia, Hessen and Baden-Wurttemberg will be able to sign up to the new high speed internet service, which is double the 200Mbps maximum speed currently on offer, from 1 February. Additionally, the cableco has revealed that it installed more than 1,000 public Wi-Fi hotspots across 100 cities in the three federal states last year.
TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database notes that Liberty Global purchased Unitymedia (operating in North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse) in January 2010 for an enterprise value of EUR3.5 billion (USD4.4 billion), before snapping up Baden-Wurttemberg-based Kabel BW from Swedish private equity firm EQT in March 2011 for EUR3.16 billion. The merger of the two cablecos was completed on 1 July 2012, and in April last year the Kabel BW brand was dropped in favour of the Unitymedia moniker.