Can the operator finally leverage its massive investment in the German market, which is its largest in Europe but has often been a drag on growth?
Earlier this week, Vodafone Deutschland said it is to halve latency on its cable internet infrastructure to improve users’ experience of apps like video conferencing, cloud-based services and online gaming.
The rollout is already underway and Vodafone expects around 45% of its cable network to be equipped with the technology by October. At that point, firmware updates will also be pushed to compatible cable routers, enabling customers to benefit from the improvements in everyday use without needing to replace hardware.
Vodafone aims to have a phased deployment to its total base of 24 million homes within about two years.
Vodafone acquired the cable infrastructure in Germany as part of an €18.4 billion deal in 2019 with Liberty Global. However, Vodafone has struggled in Germany, its biggest market in Europe although that might be rivalled after the merger of Vodafone and Three in the UK.
In particular, it suffered when tenants in multi-dwelling buildings were allowed to choose their own internet and TV service provider rather than the landlords’ choice – Vodafone was the incumbent provider and experienced heavy churn. Clearly, this is has launched a counterattack instead of the rearguard action it engaged in for so long.
Vodafone says live testing was carried out in Stuttgart, in a network segment covering around 100 household connections over several months. The pilot used the company’s Ultra Hub 7 router [its first own brand home device, launched earlier this month] and measured thousands of parameters. Vodafone said the results showed latency reductions of more than 50% for selected real-time applications during peak traffic compared with the previous setup.
DOCSIS fit for the future
The technology is based on the DOCSIS cable standard, according to Vodafone, which combines fibre optics up to local distribution points with coaxial cable for the last leg into homes. The new system prioritises time-sensitive data streams, giving them a ‘fast channel’ within the network.
Applications like video calls, online gaming and cloud services experience less buffering and prioritised routing, even if large background data transfers are in train, such as downloads or software updates. The changes are all within the network and do not require customers to act to benefit from the changes.
“Today marks the starting signal,” said Marcel de Groot, CEO of Vodafone Deutschland yesterday (pictured above) “We are making our cable network fit for the future and significantly improve response times technically. Every millisecond can make a difference in video calls or gaming. The latency booster delivers noticeable improvements, especially during peak hours.”
More on the home device front
But that’s not all. Today Vodafone Deutschland announced that external speakers will be available from mid-June as an add-on to the GigaTV Home Sound TV box. In parallel, Vodafone launched a hardware exchange programme for its customers: the operator will gradually replace about 400,000 older TV receivers (such as GigaTV.Net, Giga Cable Box 1 and Horizon) with new GigaTV Home receivers.
Matthias Lorenz, Head of Consumer Business at Vodafone Germany, said, “To ensure our customers benefit from the full range of features, we will be replacing around 400,000 older TV boxes with new ones by the end of 2027.”
More info here, in German.
