Telekom Austria Group: High-Speed Internet already available for 1.5mn Austrian households and commercial businesses as the GigaNet Rollout in Austria proceeds much faster than planned
- GigaNet rollout in Austria is proceeding more rapidly than originally planned: Initial rollout target of 750,000 households and commercial business by the beginning of September 2010 has been already exceeded
- As today, 1.5 million or 36% of the targeted addresses can be provided with high-speed Internet with transmission rates of up to 30 Mbps
- In addition to the glass fiber pilot projects, the rollout of the latest VDSL technology is currently underway to further increase broadband coverage
- The new product bundle ‘aonPowerKombi’ offers unlimited giga-speed Internet, digital cable TV and mobile Internet starting from EUR 29.90 per month
Vienna, September 3, 2010: The Telekom Austria Group (VSE: TKA, OTC US: TKAGY) today announced that the company’s GigaNet rollout has exceeded the original target of 750,000 Austrian households and commercial businesses by the beginning of September. Instead it has reached the 1.5 million mark. This corresponds to 36% of Austrian households and commercial businesses.
In Austria’s densely populated urban centers a further 190 switching centers have been upgraded based to the VDSL@CO technology* , increasing the number of VDSL@CO locations to 687 as of September 1, 2010. The VDSL@CO technology enables download speeds of up to 30 Mbps and, starting from September 2010, will provide upload rates of up to 4 Mbps in line. This is with the EU digital agenda of the EU Commissioner Neelie Kroes responsible for telecommunications, who envisages a 30 Mbps broadband coverage for all EU citizens by 2013 and 100 Mbps transmission rates for 50% of the European households by 2010. These ultra-high speeds will considerably enhance network performance allowing end-customers to enjoy simultaneous Internet surfing, HD and 3D TV, while leveraging the full potential of business applications such as unified communication and cloud computing.
Hannes Ametsreiter, CEO, Telekom Austria Group, said: “Internet users are increasingly becoming broadband hungry: the larger the bandwidth, the higher the usage. Against the backdrop of an exponential surge in data volumes, we need to provide an adequate network infrastructure. One year ago, we started the implementation of a nation-wide broadband rollout plan targeting 750,000 households and commercial businesses until year-end 2010. As of today, we have already exceeded this target and reached the 1.5 million mark. Our next target is 2 million by 2013.”
By year-end 2010, the Telekom Austria Group plans to provide high-speed Internet coverage to 40% of all Austrian households and commercial businesses (taking into account the glass fiber pilot projects “FiberCities” in Villach and Klagenfurt, which will be complete by then). This translates into a market potential of 1.7 million households in Austria that can be given access to Giga-speed products.
The latest developments in data traffic are posing unprecedented challenges not only to the fixed net infrastructure but also to mobile networks, with a 250-fold increase in transmission volumes recorded over the past 5 years. In order to tackle this exponential surge in data volumes, the Telekom Austria Group is focusing on the smart combination of the latest fixed net and mobile technologies. Within the framework of the company’s modernization offensive 4,000 mobile base stations will be connected to the corporate glass fiber network to enhance network transmission efficiency. HSPA+ rollout will be continued and several LTE pilot projects are currently underway in the test areas of the 21st and 2nd Vienna districts and in St. Pölten (Lower Austria).
Based on these new ultra-high speeds, the Telekom Austria Group has launched a new product bundle, “aonPowerKombi”, offering unlimited Giga-speed Internet with download rates of up to 16 Mbps, digital cable TV and mobile Internet at a very attractive monthly flat rate of EUR 29.90 (including activation fee and aonTV MediaBox) and EUR 5.90 for each GB of mobile data transfer. This offer is valid for all new customers subscribing to the service until October 5, 2010 (with a binding contract duration of 18 months). For other customers, the company offers the possibility to subscribe to an add-on ’Giga-speed option’ (30 Mbps download rate and 4 Mbps upload speed) for a monthly flat rate of EUR 14.90 within the framework of a promotional 3 month-campaign with free-of-charge activation. More detailed information about this new product bundle, the promotional campaign, and any prerequisites or potential restrictions are available at A1 Telekom Austria Newsroom.
Notes to the Editors
A1 Telekom Austria, Telekom Austria Group’s domestic subsidiary, started a large-scale modernization offensive of its network infrastructure in November 2009, which encompassed the rollout of a GigaNet on the basis of the VDSL@CO and fiber technology. As of end of June 2010, 570,000 households in rural areas were provided with high-speed Internet and connected to the company’s GigaNet. In addition to the VDSL@CO rollout, four glass fiber pilot projects – the so-called “FiberCities“ – were initiated providing 100 Mbps to a total of 150,000 households and commercial businesses. The pilot project in Villach was completed in 2009, the one in Klagenfurt is due to be finalized in 2010 and the one in the 15th and 19th Vienna districts at the beginning of 2011. As of September 2010 a further 190 switching centers have been upgraded based on the VDSL@CO technology, of which 46 in Vienna, 38 in Styria with focus on Graz, 29 in Lower Austria with focus on St.Pölten, 25 in Upper Austria with focus on Linz, 23 in the Province of Salzburg with focus on the city of Salzburg, 15 in Tirol with focus on Innsbruck, 8 in Burgenland, 5 in Vorarlberg and 1 in Carinthia.
About Telekom Austria Group:
The Telekom Austria Group is the leading telecommunications provider in Central and Eastern Europe. The Group has been listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange since November 2000 and is currently operating in eight countries: in Austria (A1 Telekom Austria), Slovenia (Si.mobil), Croatia (Vipnet), the Republics of Serbia (Vip mobile) and Macedonia (Vip operator), Bulgaria (Mobiltel), Belarus (Velcom) and Liechtenstein (mobilkom liechtenstein). The Fixed Net segment encompasses voice telephony, data and IT solutions, Internet access, multimedia services as well as wholesale. The Mobile Communication segment includes mobile voice telephony, mobile Internet and data as well as m-payment solutions. The Telekom Austria Group serves roughly 2.3 million fixed net lines in Austria and has a customer base of 19.2 million mobile subscribers across its markets of operation. The Group’s revenues were EUR 4.8 billion as of year-end 2009. More detailed information is available at www.telekomaustria.com
*VDSL@CO refers to the connection of end-customers to the glass fiber network of the switching centers via high-speed VDSL technology.
Contact:
Elisabeth Mattes
Spokeswoman and Director Corporate Communications of the Telekom Austria Group
Tel: +43 664 6639187
E-mail: elisabeth.mattes@telekomaustria.com
