Vodafone Kabel Germany

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vodafone Kabel Deutschland GmbH

logo
legal form GmbH
founding 2003
Seat Unterfoehring , GermanyGermanyGermany 
management Manuel Cubero, CEO
Dirk Barnard, Chairman of the Supervisory Board
Number of employees 3,841 (2014/15)
sales 2.41 billion euros (2017/18)
Branch Cable operator , telecommunications
Website kabel.vodafone.de

zuhauseplus.vodafone.de

The Vodafone cable Germany GmbH (PCD), based in Unterföhring , until 1 September 2015 cable Germany GmbH Sales and Service (KDG), the operating cable operator of cable Germany Holding AG (KDH). Since April 2014, Vodafone is the largest shareholder with a 76.57% stake.

The company acts as a network operator for the largest cable network in Germany and supplies around 8.3 million households with cable connections in all federal states with the exception of Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg. With the cable television connections , offers for high-definition (HD) and digital (SD) as well as analog television are sold, as well as video-on-demand and pay-TV offers. Via the cable connection, the company provides broadband Internet ports (up to 1 Gbit / s), wireless services and fixed network - telephone connections via broadband cable (Next Generation Network, NGN). Cellular services are also offered via Vodafone . Since September 2015, Kabel Deutschland no longer appears externally. All of the former company's products are now sold under the umbrella brand Vodafone; The reason is the merger of the previous Kabel Deutschland with the international cable division of Vodafone. Furthermore, the addition of Mit der Power from Kabel Deutschland is used for the products .

In May 2018 the Vodafone Group announced that it would take over the cable network operator Unitymedia . The merger of Vodafone Kabel Deutschland and Unitymedia resulted in a monopoly in cable television in Germany. The approval of the competition authorities was granted on July 18, 2019.

history

Detailed view of the company building
General view of the company building
Former Kabel Deutschland retail store
Former Kabel Deutschland logo

The broadband cable network in Germany was set up and operated by the Deutsche Bundespost from the beginning of the 1980s . In preparation for a later sale forced by regulatory requirements, Deutsche Telekom spun off the entire broadband cable network division from its company into the newly created company Kabel Deutschland GmbH ( KDG ) at the end of 1999 .

KDG took over the operational management of the cable business. As a result, the company was divided into nine independent regional companies. These regional companies should be sold individually to investors. The administration of the sale was handled by the Ministerial Director Franz Arnold, who was formerly responsible for the telecommunications business of the Deutsche Bundespost.

First, in February 2000, Deutsche Telekom sold the cable networks of Kabel Nordrhein-Westfalen GmbH & Co. KG (Kabel NRW) in North Rhine-Westphalia to the US investor Richard Callahan. Kabel NRW became a subsidiary of Callahan NRW, which in turn belonged to 55% of the American Callahan & Associates and 45% to the Telekom subsidiary Kabel Deutschland. As a second region, Kabel Hessen was sold to a group of investors led by A. Gary Klesch . In September 2001 Callahan & Associates also acquired the cable networks of Kabel BW . This is how the regional cable companies ish (NRW), iesy (Hessen) and Kabel BW (Baden-Württemberg) came into being (later renamed ). In June 2007, ish and iesy were merged under the unified brand Unitymedia .

After the sale of the remaining six companies to Liberty Media was prohibited by the Federal Cartel Office in February 2002 , a group of investors consisting of Apax Partners , Providence Equity Partners and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners acquired the six regional companies and bundled them in the Kabel Deutschland Group. In 2002 it had around 2,400 employees and achieved sales of around one billion euros with around 10 million customers.

In December 2003, Kabel Deutschland launched “Kabel Internet”, a pilot project in Berlin for broadband Internet access via television cable. Four more cities followed in 2004: Leipzig, Bayreuth, Munich and Saarbrücken. Regular operations commenced at the end of 2004 and the nationwide provision of cable Internet began. In January 2004 Kabel Deutschland relocated its headquarters from Bonn and Berlin to Unterföhring. In April 2004, Kabel Deutschland launched Kabel Digital BASIC and Kabel Digital BASIC Plus, two digital program packages for German-speaking subscribers. The Kabel Digital BASIC starter package contained a combination of PREMIERE Start and 45 digital radio programs and also offers access to the TV on demand offers PREMIERE Direkt and PREMIERE Erotik. Kabel Digital BASIC Plus comprised seven special-interest channels E! Entertainment Television , Fashion TV , Kinowelt , Meteos TV, Motors TV , Planet and Trace.TV . Customers could purchase the cable digital receiver DC220KKD from the British manufacturer Pace for 99.00 euros. On July 27, 2004, the Bavarian State Center for New Media (BLM) also released Kabel Deutschland's electronic program guide (EPG). In September 2004, Kabel Deutschland launched the Kabel Digital HOME program package, initially with 20 additional programs, including 13th Street Universal and Sci Fi Channel .

In February 2006, the investment company Providence Equity Partners took over the shares of the previous co-partners Apax and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners and then held more than 95 percent of the shares. In March 2010, the company went public in Frankfurt, a total of around 34.5 million shares were issued, bringing in around € 760 million. On June 21, 2010, Kabel Deutschland was included in the MDAX , where it remained until December 18, 2015.

In May 2012, Kabel Deutschland confirmed its intention to take over the cable provider Tele Columbus for 603 million euros. Tele Columbus, based in Berlin, has around 1.7 million customers. However, the Federal Cartel Office set too high conditions, which is why the takeover was canceled in February 2013. As of June 30, 2012, the number of the company's subscribers rose to around 13.7 million, including a third of the subscriptions for the combined services of cable TV, Internet and telephone. In June 2013, the British Vodafone group announced that it wanted to submit a takeover offer to the shareholders of Kabel Deutschland. The project received the necessary response of 75 percent and was approved by the EU Commission in September 2013. Vodafone officially announced on October 14, 2013 that it had acquired 76.6 percent of the share capital. The purchase price was 10.7 billion euros.

A profit transfer and control agreement has existed between Vodafone and Kabel Deutschland since April 1, 2014. Kabel Deutschland is thus losing its independence and has now become a subsidiary of Vodafone. Both brands and companies initially remained independent of each other and were initially continued. According to a joint website, the products of the other company would soon be available in their own shops and the networks would gradually grow together piece by piece in order to create synergy effects. Vodafone announced that it will no longer use the Kabel Deutschland brand with end customers in the long term and will rename Kabel Deutschland Vertrieb und Service GmbH as a result of the merger to Vodafone Kabel Deutschland GmbH from September 2015. Kabel Deutschland Holding temporarily continued to exist as a listed holding under the old name and logo. The operational subsidiary of the holding company, Kabel Deutschland Vertrieb und Service GmbH, was renamed Vodafone Kabel Deutschland GmbH. On September 3, 2015, the parent company Vodafone instructed the company to apply for the delisting of the shares from the regulated Prime Standard market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange within one year . As of December 21, 2015 the share was removed from the MDAX .

KD's turnover in the 2014/15 financial year (as of March 31, 2015) according to IFRS was EUR 2,020.7 million (previous year 1,900.2). The profit in this period was 238.9 million euros (compared to a loss of 68.2 million euros in the previous year) and the average revenue per customer (ARPU) was 18.34 euros per month (previous year 17.11). As of the reporting date, KD was supplying 8.308 million connected households (previous year: 8.344). Of these, 2.526 million were premium TV subscriptions (previous year: 2.302) and 5.175 million were Internet and telephone customers (previous year: 4.309).

In the 2017/18 financial year, according to Vodafone, revenue in the cable sector was EUR 2.41 billion.

Cable network

With its six regions, KD is represented in a total of 13 federal states as a provider of products via the cable network. Of the 15.3 million households that can be connected (Homes passed), 8.7 million are currently connected (Homes connected). Only around a third of these customers are supplied directly, the other two thirds of the customers are supplied via other network level 4 operators and housing companies.

The KD network was not a coherent network until 2011, but consisted of many smaller cable islands. As of March 31, 2011, the TV signal was fed into the network at 882 points, the cable headends .

In the course of 2010 and 2011, a coherent fiber optic backbone was finally set up by KD. The vast majority of KD networks were successively connected to this. So that this could take place as cost-effectively as possible, numerous smaller, previously completely independent local networks were attached to the large fiber optic stars. As a result, around 98 percent of KD's households are now supplied via the backbone. The remaining networks that are not connected to the backbone continue to be fed decentrally via satellite. After completing these measures, it was finally possible in February 2012 to stop broadcasting the KD packages via Astra 23.5 ° East, via which the programs had previously been fed to the individual head-end stations.

According to Kabel Deutschland, the goal is to operate a nationwide network as far as possible. However, the Federal Cartel Office prevented the purchases of competitors on network level 3 and thus a nationwide offer by KD in this segment. The takeover bans were issued on October 7, 2004 for ish (service provider for North Rhine-Westphalia ), iesy (service provider for Hesse ) and Kabel BW (service provider for Baden-Württemberg ). Kabel Deutschland had budgeted a total of 2.7 billion euros for these acquisitions; after a successful purchase, 17 million of a total of 22 million direct cable connections in Germany would have been supplied. KD is currently trying to buy up in network level 4 to increase the number of apartments it supplies and to gain direct access to end customers.

Cable Germany infrastructure
Facility Number
August 2007		 Number
March 2014
Playout Center (POC) 2 in Frankfurt-Rödelheim and
as a backup in Kirchheim near Munich
Broadband access server (Point of Presence) 24
Master head-end stations 52
Head stations with CMTS 738
Point of Presence (PoP) for TV in the head-end stations 116
Point of Presence (PoP) for Internet & Telephone 289
Hubs 2000 1900
amplifier 134,000 135,000
Splitter and splitter 2,200,000 2,200,000
House transfer points 4,200,000 4,300,000
Cable length 261,000 km 266,000 km
Cable ducts 31,400 km 31,400 km

Products and sales

Technical requirements

A cable connection with a conventional antenna socket requires an additional plug-on adapter with a filter for broadband Internet access with a cable modem.
A CI + from SMiT in connection with smart cards for TV sets
Example of a Smartcard from Kabel Deutschland from 2012 for TV sets with CI + module or directly in the receiver. The Giga TV boxes, which have been issued since 2018, have integrated access authorization and do not require smart cards.

The company provides the following components for this purpose:

  • a multimedia socket (MMD) with three connections for television, radio and data communication or a corresponding adapter.
  • for Internet & Telephone: a special cable modem (e.g. Fritz! Box 6490 Cable) that connects the computer to the cable network and the Internet and, if necessary, an MTA (Multimedia Terminal Adapter) that enables telephoning via the television cable. This is already integrated in a cable modem today.
  • for digital television ( DVB-C ) depending on the product ( e.g. for HD programming): either a video-on-demand capable HD receiver, a cable-compatible digital HD video recorder (HD-DVR), a CI + module or a cable-compatible digital receiver (possibly already integrated in the television set) and a smart card for decoding the digital signals of private programs and pay-TV offers from television stations.

Television and radio

Analog cable television

Kabel Deutschland's analog cable connection ( PAL ) offered up to 32 free TV channels. The analogue VHF transmission ended in November 2018. Here the digital successor standard is not DAB + , but DVB-C . These are already included in the TV connection price and can be received unencrypted. The programs are mostly financed by advertising or license fees. From the beginning of August 2018 to the end of March 2019, however, Vodafone Kabel Deutschland has been gradually switching off all analog TV and radio programs, so that from then on only digital programs will be transmitted in the cable network.

Digital cable television

The first cable digital receiver DC220KKD from British manufacturer Pace offered by Kabel Deutschland since 2004
The rear of the cable digital receiver DC220KKD with recognizable connections
The Humax DVR-9900C receiver was used from 2007 to 2010
The HD - DVR (with integrated HD receiver) RCI88-320 KDG Sagemcom Broadband SAS

Today only digital transmission via DVB-C ( antenna cable ) is offered. The new DVB-IPTV , which is suitable for triple play on a single socket , is not supported. Standard Definition Television (SDTV) SD reception includes up to 100 TV programs and up to 70 digital radio programs. 17 public HD programs, including Das Erste HD, ZDF HD and ARTE HD, as well as the shopping channels QVC HD, HSE24 HD and 1-2-3.tv HD are available without an HD package with an existing HD receiver freely receivable.

Kabel Deutschland also offers eight bookable foreign language packages with the latest news, sports, films, series as well as shows and entertainment. The packages are available as an additional option to all existing program packages in English, Turkish, Greek, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

High definition cable television

In addition to digital television in standard definition (SDTV), HD reception of high-definition TV programs ( High Definition Television ; HDTV) is also offered. HD programs can be booked in five different TV packages (Vodafone Basic TV, Vodafone TV, Vodafone GigaTV, HD Premium and HD Premium Plus). For new customers of cable connections, TV Connect is also available, which represents the cable connection.

For reception, existing end devices can be used for reception, or a digital HD receiver, digital HD video recorder (HD-DVR) or CI + (CI Plus) module for suitable HDTV televisions can be booked or purchased for use . An HD video recorder (HD-DVR) is only available through one of the Vodafone TV packages. The HD-DVR is equipped with a 320 GB or 1000 GB hard drive for time-shifted television (time shift) and parallel recordings of up to three programs as well as optional access to the Select Video offer . The digital HD video recorder can be programmed online at any time from the Internet or via a smartphone app using the Kabel Deutschland Program Manager software, which has been included in the tariffs since May 2012 .

Pay-TV offer from Sky Deutschland
In addition to Kabel Deutschland's own pay-TV offer, a limited offer from Sky Deutschland is also available. With the exception of Sky Sport News HD, the Pay-TV offers from Kabel Deutschland and Sky Deutschland as well as the digitally transmitted private channels are only fed in encrypted; a chargeable, registered smartcard is required for each end device .

Pay-per-view (until 2011)

Former Select Kino logo

The pay-per-view service (“film on demand”) Select Kino and redXclub offered film titles to be ordered via the Internet, telephone and SMS. No subscription was required. With the services redXclub Movies and redXclub Special, redXclub offered erotic films on demand. Each film cost six euros and there was no subscription here either. Select cinema channels were only receivable in expanded house networks over 470 MHz after the channel was reassigned in the course of feeding in the nationwide public service HD television. Both the Select Kino and redXclub services were discontinued on August 31, 2011 or incorporated into the successor Select Video .

Video-on-Demand (since 2011)
The video-on-demand service Select Video has been introduced gradually since March 2011 . Films, series and TV programs and various free content ("catch-ups") from various free and pay TV channels can be accessed regardless of a broadcast time. In June 2012 the offer was available to cable customers in Berlin , Hamburg , Munich , Rostock and Wismar , and this is now the case in around 80 percent of cable households. To use the service, you need a digital HD receiver or an HD video recorder with a WLAN adapter and an Internet connection (IP) with at least 6,000 kbit / s reception data rate. However, only the display of the film catalog and commands such as fast forward and rewind are implemented via the Internet. As with normal television programs, transmission takes place via the cable network (DVB-C). Around half of all feature films can also be viewed in the original version at Select Video . Content costs between EUR 0.99 and EUR 6 and is paid for via cable billing. In 2011, around 2,500 hours of programming could be selected on demand, of which around 60 percent of the available content was also available in HD resolution.

Radio
Many radio programs are included in the cable connection without incurring additional costs. A distinction must be made between two reception methods: On the one hand, depending on the region, various radio stations will be fed into the cable as analogue VHF signals by the end of March 2019 at the latest ( VHF band II ). These can be received with any FM radio tuner with an antenna connection. In some regions, however, this is no longer the case, where the analog radio offer has already been switched off. In addition, all ARD radio programs and programs from Deutschlandradio , the most important private radio stations and, depending on the region, most local radio stations are transmitted unencrypted in the cable network using DVB-C . Further encrypted radio programs are activated through the various TV program packages. DAB and the successor standard DAB + are not fed into the cable network.

Basic encryption
Kabel Deutschland originally set up encryption for the digitally broadcast programs in which all channels - even those that are purely advertising-financed - are encrypted and can only be received by a recurring smart card for each individual receiver. The whole thing is referred to as basic encryption , although it is actually a system in which programs broadcast by satellite should only be receivable in individual countries due to broadcasting rights - here corresponding smart cards are issued for a one-off cost.

Since the beginning, however, this system has been weakened by the fact that all public broadcasters have to be fed in without such a restriction. At the end of 2012, as part of a decision by the Federal Cartel Office, the two large media groups RTL Group and ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG committed to make their programs available in SD quality for at least 10 years without encryption. Consumer advocates also expressed massive criticism of the basic encryption for private digital channels, which Kabel Deutschland was the only cable network operator to maintain until April 3, 2013, although the Federal Cartel Office demanded free reception for the digital SD programs from ProSiebenSat1 and RTL. Because of this, the basic encryption for the SD versions of the channels RTL, RTL II, Super RTL, VOX, RTL Nitro, n-tv (all RTL Group), Sat.1, ProSieben, kabel eins (all ProSiebenSat .1 Media AG) and the independent private broadcaster Sport1 are repealed. The stations that were free to air at this point in time (including the public broadcasters) have a combined market share of over 90 percent; none of those still missing scores more than 1 percent.

Practically all other German-language SD channels and the international news channel CNN International followed on May 2, 2013 . The "basic encryption" has become a basic pay-TV package consisting of a small German-language channel (Sonnenklar TV), various international news channels and (since April 2013 merged) the HD versions of around two dozen German-language channels. Various of these are also freely receivable via Astra satellite.

Kabel Deutschland has appealed against the decision of the Cartel Office to the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court. In addition, it was criticized that the group did not feed the new digital HD programs of the public broadcasters (e.g. 3sat HD, BR HD, ZDFneo HD etc.) into their networks. The consumer advice center Rhineland-Palatinate saw a massive disadvantage for cable Germany customers in both cases and advised, if possible, to switch to satellite reception or IPTV. In the meantime, Kabel Deutschland has announced that it will feed the majority of the missing public HD channels unencrypted into the network from April 3, 2014.

In the course of 2013, the previous basic encryption was largely abolished, creating a range of around 60 (with slight regional differences) programs that could be received by all cable customers. This also includes some English-language news channels and the HD versions of Das Erste , ZDF and Arte and, since 2014, other public broadcasters. There are also all (70) public radio stations.

Internet and telephony

The cable modem Fritz! Box 6490 Cable
New cable router modem Vodafone station with DOCSIS 3.0 and 3.1 (2019)

Kabel Deutschland Holding AG (KD) does not offer classic landline telephony via analog or ISDN connections or lines via the coaxial cable network , but only Voice over Cable with the pure cable modems (and some cable router modems) and Voice over IP via SIP with the Fritz! Boxes . In addition, this configuration does not allow an emergency or remote power supply because the CMTS does not offer this standard function of the classic exchange in the DSL area. If a cable connection is available, which is already paid for via the ancillary rental costs or the house fees, for example, it is possible to receive broadband Internet and telephony via cable. Since June 2007, it has been possible in some of the buildings supplied to have internet and telephone even without a paid TV cable connection. The two products initially offered were called "Kabel Internet" and "Kabel Phone". Combined Internet and telephone offers are often offered today.

In contrast to a DSL connection, the Internet connection is via a cable connection and a cable modem . A prerequisite is also a house amplifier with a back channel capability, which is available in most cable households today. The necessary upgrading of the house installation and the installation of the modem is carried out free of charge by a technician on site at the customer’s Kabel Deutschland.

Internet & telephone

With Internet & Telephone we mean the combined tariffs that include an Internet connection with an Internet flat rate and a telephone connection with a landline flat rate. They mainly differ in the performance of the maximum download and upload speed offered: The entry-level tariff Internet & telephone 10 to 10 Mbit / s for download and up to 0.6 Mbit / s for upload, Internet & telephone 32 to 32 Mbit / s for Download and up to 2 Mbit / s in upload and Internet & telephone 100 to 100 Mbit / s and in upload up to 6 Mbit / s and Internet & telephone 200 with download speeds up to a maximum of 200 Mbit / s and in upload up to 12 Mbit / s, as far as a correspondingly modernized house network is available. All tariffs can be combined with other options, for example for mobile or international calls.

In 2016 and 2017, the Red Internet & Phone Cable 400 and 500 tariffs with download / upload speeds of 400/25 and 500/50 Mbit / s were introduced (depending on the expansion of the local infrastructure).

A WLAN cable router with LAN connections and WLAN operation are included with all tariffs. The necessary cable modem is already integrated in the WLAN cable router. A monthly surcharge is required for WLAN operation. It can be switched off if desired. The router function of the wireless cable router can also be switched off if desired.

Alternatively, the HomeBox FRITZ! Box 6490 with connection options for ISDN and DECT telephones can be rented.

For business customers, the tariffs Internet & Phone Business Kabel 50 , Internet & Phone Business Kabel 100 and Internet & Phone Business Kabel 200 are offered with the same maximum download speeds as with the private Internet & Phone tariffs as well as 2 Mbit / s, 12 Mbit / s or 25 Mbit / s in the upload. In addition, the FRITZ! Box 6490 (“HomeBox”) is included. All business tariffs can also be individually adapted and supplemented with various additional options for calls to the German mobile network and other countries. There is also the option of becoming a provider of a WLAN hotspot.

Since February 2010, Kabel Deutschland has been offering contracts in Hamburg with speeds of up to 100 Mbit / s downstream. Since then, the network infrastructure has been continuously expanded, so that speeds of up to 100 Mbit / s downstream are now available almost everywhere. This data rate is made possible by using the cable modem standard EuroDocsis 3.0. Kabel Deutschland has been marketing connections with up to 200 Mbit / s downstream since December 2013. Marketing started in Mainz. The product with the highest available download rate is currently not yet available in the entire distribution area of ​​Kabel Deutschland.

The potential of this standard for the next few years was shown by two field tests in November 2010 in Hamburg and in May 2012 in Schwerin. As part of the first test, a transmission rate of more than 1 Gbit / s (test result: 1,170 Mbit / s) in the downstream was achieved for the first time worldwide. “The field test was carried out on test connections in an apartment building in Kabel Deutschland's cable network in Hamburg. The bandwidths were realized both on a single computer and in the course of a multiroom solution on several computers, which corresponds more to the actual use in a multi-person household. ”The second field test was carried out in May 2012 in Schwerin. A speed of 4.7 Gbit / s was achieved, which is currently beyond the bandwidths supported by common household devices.

Since December 2013, mostly native IPv6 has been made available as the Internet transmission protocol for new and existing customers. Which connection variant is available depends on various factors in each individual case:

  • Type of contract and parts of the contract (e.g. private customer / business customer)
  • technical development status of the last mile (DOCSIS 3.0 or DOCSIS 3.1 required)
  • End device at the customer (IPv6 support required)
  • Operating mode of the end device at the customer (bridge or router operation)

Depending on the circumstances, the log provision for the customer can look different technically:

  • IPv4-only (IPv4 with carrier grade "444" NAT) (e.g. with older Thomson cable modems or in areas that have not yet been converted to DOCSIS 3.0)
  • Dual-stack operation with IPv4 (IPv4 with carrier grade "444" NAT) and IPv6 (e.g. for Fritzbox cable routers)
  • Dual-Stack-Lite operation with IPv4 (IPv4 with carrier grade "464" NAT) and IPv6 (e.g. with many other cable routers)

Internet connection (without telephony)

The entry-level Internet connection 20 tariff for private customers only includes broadband Internet access with a flat rate (“flat rate”) with up to 20 Mbit / s reception and up to 1 Mbit / s transmission data rate including a cable modem. Optionally, a WLAN cable router and other additional options such as virus protection software, homepage starter package and online backup (data backup) can be booked. It is the only pure internet connection tariff at Vodafone Kabel Deutschland without bundling with a telephone tariff.

Two other tariffs are also available for business customers: Business 32 Internet connection and Business 100 Internet connection, which differ in the send and receive data rates offered and are offered including a WLAN cable router.

Since the takeover by Vodafone on September 2, 2015, there is no longer a pure internet connection.

Telephone connection (without internet)

The “landline telephone connection” tariff only includes telephony without Internet access. An NGN connection, comparable to landline telephony, is offered with two telephone lines and a telephone flat rate to the German landline network, in which the first 3 months are free and from the 4th month 9.90 euros per month or without a flat rate 0.029 euros / min. costs. The required cable modem will be provided at no extra charge during the contract period. Various additional options for calls to the German mobile network and other countries can be booked individually. To use an analog telephone, it must be connected to an analog telephone adapter . This adapter is already integrated in the cable modem , which is connected to the cable television socket. The previous telephone numbers (up to ten) can be taken along (ported). The technology used is VoC with a protocol derived from the H.323 audio codec. Thus KD offers comparable with conventional analog or ISDN connections Quality of Service to, for example, fax connections made possible without the T.38 to have to support -Faxprotokoll (Fax over IP). Customers who are provided with the Thomson THG540 K cable modem in connection with the Homebox (Fritz! Box 7270) or the Homebox (Fritz! Box 6360) from Kabel Deutschland, on the other hand, make calls via SIP with uncompressed G.711 codec, that too Fax transmission possible without T.38 support.

Mobile Phone & Internet

Since mid-2009, the offer has been expanded to include the mobile communications market. In cooperation with O 2 , Kabel Deutschland now also offered customers a mobile phone contract without a basic fee. In the basic tariff, the tariffs covered calls to telephone and mobile phone connections from Kabel Deutschland via a fixed network flat rate up to the tariff Fair Flat with calls to telephone and mobile phone connections from Kabel Deutschland, including 150 minutes to German mobile phone networks and up to 150 SMS to the German mobile network, from the 151st minute / SMS at a price per minute / unit price of 0.15 euros per minute / SMS. There was also the option of Handy Surf-Flat for smartphones for internet access and surfing. The Complete Flat rate included a landline flat rate, a mobile phone flat rate and an Internet flat rate with a download speed of up to 7 Mbit / s with a data volume of up to 300 MB. None of the cell phone tariffs had a minimum contract term with the exception of bundled offers with smartphones provided.

Mobile Internet tariffs without cellular telephony were available in two tariffs: as a daily flat rate or a monthly flat rate with up to 3,600 Kbit / s receiving data rate via “Mobile Internet Stick” with SIM card without a monthly basic fee and minimum sales. From a data usage of over 1 GB data volume within a calendar day or more than 5 GB data volume within a calendar month, the transmission speed was throttled to a maximum of 64 Kbit / s in the send and receive directions.

Due to the takeover of Kabel Deutschland by the Vodafone Group , the mobile communications offer and the cooperation with O 2 have since been discontinued.

Area-wide WiFi (hotspots)

In September 2012, Kabel Deutschland announced the establishment of a nationwide WLAN . First of all, airports and train stations are to be equipped with appropriate base stations , later coverage in rural areas is also to be guaranteed. In order to be able to provide as high a number of access points as possible, the customers' WLAN routers will also be converted into a public access point, as is already the case with FON . In this case, an independent second channel is provided, which is reserved exclusively for the so-called home spot service, so that there are no bandwidth restrictions for the customer himself. As one of the first network operators, Kabel Deutschland is considering giving every user access to WLAN without any particular restrictions or registration. There are currently around 750,000 hotspots available for use in the Kabel Deutschland network. Customers can use the hotspots free of charge for 30 minutes a day at around 4,000 hotspots in public places and in cafés and restaurants. The remaining “homespots” can only be used by customers who activate their router for this service. Paid access can be booked for unlimited access to all hotspots. Up to 10 Mbit / s for download and up to 2 Mbit / s for upload are available at the homespots. The nuisance liability in its hotspots takes over cable Germany.

Distribution channels

The distribution of the above At Kabel Deutschland, products to end customers are made through various sales channels.

  • Field service end customer sales (independent sales partners, media consultants)
  • Field service housing industry (usually via employees or managerial staff of KDG)
  • Distance selling (telephone and internet)
  • Retail (specialist shops, electronics stores, Kabel Deutschland shops and partner shops)

criticism

Pricing policy

In March 2007, Kabel Deutschland asked all cable connection customers to pay the price for the “digital cable connection” package of 16.90 euros, even if Kabel Digital Free was not included and although the contract provided no legal basis for this. At the same time, the “digital cable connection” package with Kabel Digital Free (and one month of Kabel Digital Home) was offered at the same price as part of a “loyalty offer”. The price increase had to be objected to in writing, and Kabel Deutschland threatened to give notice if they objected. Consumer advocates found the price increase letter to be misleading and not consumer friendly.

Net neutrality

In 2008, after initial criticism and observations from customers, Kabel Deutschland admitted that it would intervene in the customers' IP traffic and slow down file-sharing traffic. This led to negative reactions from users of Kabel Deutschland's website. Has been speculated in March 2008 that the former capacity was not up to the network of cable Germany the number of users, has been observed since that engagement especially in BitTorrent data streams regionally and at different times is.

In August 2009, Kabel Deutschland changed its terms and conditions and was granted the right to limit file sharing applications to 100 kbit / s after 10 gigabytes of total traffic per day and connection. In addition to P2P applications, this also affected one-click hosters . For technical reasons, Kabel Deutschland stated that it was not able to exempt old contracts from the regulation. At the same time, the company announced that in practice it only wanted to curb total traffic from 60 gigabytes. In July 2014, the company was sentenced because of the throttling to no longer market its connections as a flat rate . The rule was extended to old contracts in 2014. From the end of 2015, Kabel Deutschland began to throttle file sharing after 10 gigabytes of total traffic. After intensive reporting, the company rowed back shortly afterwards and completely stopped the throttling, but announced that it did not intend to change the terms and conditions accordingly.

Transfer of customer data

In March 2009 it became public that Kabel Deutschland had passed on customer data records to external call centers through "telephone sellers" such as Condor Media AG in order to have them advertise the new offers of Kabel Deutschland. The data was passed on via unencrypted Excel spreadsheets sent by email.

In addition to its own call center, the company also commissioned external call centers to call all 9.1 million cable network customers and gain them for Internet and telephone service via cable. The order was so large that some call centers hired additional subcontractors. In the meantime, customer data was circulating at home and abroad, so that Kabel Deutschland customers were repeatedly called by advertisers. As a reaction to the scandal, the contracts with “suspicious call centers” were terminated and telephone marketing was severely restricted.

advertising

The company is also criticized for working with sometimes questionable methods (such as simulating a registered mail) and by regularly sending advertising letters at short intervals. For this purpose, address data is regularly purchased from various sources.

In addition, the company often uses agents for door-to-door sales , where customers are told, for example, that the agent only has to briefly check the connection in order to then offer the company's contracts. At the end of May 2020, it was made clear again by an official warning from the Hamburg consumer advice center, which explicitly warned of alleged service technicians directly at the front door and the Vodafone hotline. When asked, Vodafone said in response that the representatives or employees of specialist dealers or sales companies in question would be warned or dismissed.

Vulnerabilities in routers

There were several serious security vulnerabilities in the modem routers supplied to customers by Kabel Deutschland. In October 2015 it was announced that up to 1.3 million routers are susceptible to attacks via the WLAN function. In December 2015 it became known that Kabel Deutschland's internal maintenance network was hardly securely open to all customers, so that any other connections in the network could have been manipulated and monitored.

Technically related incorrect supplies near the national borders to the former Unitymedia area

In Riesbürg in Baden-Württemberg , which is connected to the Vodafone Kabel Deutschland network, SWR Fernsehen Baden-Württemberg is only fed in in HD, while the program version for Rhineland-Palatinate is also fed in SD. Since the SD broadcast of ARD television programs via satellite will be switched off on January 12, 2021, the SD version of SWR Fernsehen BW will no longer return to this network.

In Lügde , North Rhine-Westphalia , where the local time from Bielefeld is responsible, only the local time from Cologne is fed in. There will probably only be an improvement with the ARD-SD switch-off via satellite.

Web links

Commons : Vodafone Kabel Deutschland  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Annual financial report according to IFRS for the financial year ending March 31, 2015 (PDF) Kabel Deutschland Holding AG Unterföhring, accessed on May 19, 2015 .
  2. ↑ https://www.vodafone.de/medien/unternehmen/2017-18-vodafone-erneut-nr-1-bei-wachsen-und-ertrag
  3. ↑ https://www.kabeldeutschland.com/vorstand.html
  4. ↑ Kabel Deutschland, a Vodafone company. . Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kabeldeutschland.com
  5. ↑ Discover who we are .
  6. ↑ Unitymedia purchase. vodafone.de, accessed on May 9, 2018 .
  7. ^ Liberty Global to Sell Operations in Germany, Hungary, Romania and the Czech Republic to Vodafone. Liberty Global, May 9, 2018, accessed May 9, 2018 .
  8. ↑ kabelschluss.com: The company at a glance. ( Memento of October 13, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
  9. ↑ heise online: Hardly any demand for KDG shares March 22, 2010
  10. ^ Wirtschaftswoche : Dax reorganization: Expensive purchases for index funds. June 21, 2010
  11. ↑ a b Archive link ( Memento of the original dated December 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / dax-indices.com
  12. ^ Abendblatt.de: Kabel Deutschland fails with the takeover of Tele Columbus. 19th February 2013
  13. ↑ focus.de: Kabel Deutschland posts jump in profit. August 15, 2012
  14. ↑ Vodafone and Kabel Deutschland are growing together. (No longer available online.) In: NochmehrNetz.de. April 1, 2014, archived from the original on April 7, 2014 ; Retrieved April 30, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nochmehrnetz.de
  15. ^ Hans-Georg Kluge: Vodafone: Kabel Deutschland brand will disappear. In: Teltarif.de . April 30, 2014, accessed April 30, 2014 .
  16. ↑ Thorsten Neuhetzki: Confirmed: From September, Kabel Deutschland will become Vodafone. In: Teltarif.de . August 12, 2015, accessed August 15, 2015 .
  17. ↑ https://www.vodafone.de/medien/unternehmen/2017-18-vodafone-erneut-nr-1-bei-wachsen-und-ertrag/
  18. ↑ a b kabeldeutschland.com: Kabel Deutschland - Infrastruktur ( Memento of the original from December 1, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kabeldeutschland.com
  19. ↑ helpdesk.kdgforum.de: Unofficial Vodafone Cable Helpdesk - Backbone
  20. ↑ vodafone.de: Vodafone: Switching to the future: Full digitization of the Vodafone cable network starts in summer 2018 , December 7th 2017.
  21. ↑ digitalfernsehen.de: Kabel Deutschland switches off Select Kino and redXclub. June 9, 2011.
  22. ↑ heise.de: End of the basic TV encryption: Kabel Deutschland doesn’t just follow suit .
  23. ↑ chip.de: Kabel Deutschland: Basic encryption finished. ( Memento of the original from April 7, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. April 3, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.chip.de
  24. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from March 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bundeskartellamt.de
  25. ↑ chip.de: Kabel Deutschland: Basic encryption ended ( memento of the original from April 7, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. April 3, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.chip.de
  26. ↑ helpdesk.kdgforum.de: Digital packages : Vodafone Basic TV
  27. ↑ digitalfernsehen.de: Kabel Deutschland: Abolition of SD encryption in April? 4th February 2013
  28. ↑ heise online: End of the basic TV encryption: Kabel Deutschland does not just follow suit . December 28, 2012.
  29. ↑ digitalfernsehen.de: consumer advice center advises cable TV customers to use satellite or IPTV. November 27, 2012
  30. ↑ dwdl.de: Kabel Deutschland feeds 15 new HD channels. March 27, 2014.
  31. ↑ vodafone.de: Price list and description of services Red Internet & Phone Cable October 2017.
  32. ↑ kabeldeutschland.com: Press release from Kabel Deutschland on upgrading to DOCSIS 3.0. ( Memento of the original from February 26, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. February 8, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kabeldeutschland.com
  33. ↑ kabeldeutschland.com: Press release from Kabel Deutschland on the marketing launch of 200Mbit products in Mainz December 3, 2013.
  34. ↑ kabeldeutschland.com: Press release from Kabel Deutschland on the successful field test of speeds> 1,000 Mbit / s. ( Memento of the original from January 13, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. November 12, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kabeldeutschland.com
  35. ↑ Cable network operator achieves 4,700 Mbit / s download speed (4.7 Gbit / s) over the television cable for the first time worldwide
  36. ↑ kabeldeutschland.com: Kabel Deutschland switches Internet access to IPv6 on December 19, 2013.
  37. ↑ Urs Mansmann: Fax despite VoIP. In: c't 21/09.
  38. ↑ Moritz Stückler: Kabel Deutschland is planning a nationwide WLAN network. (No longer available online.) T3n magazine , September 5, 2012, archived from the original on December 28, 2012 ; Retrieved February 27, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / t3n.de
  39. ↑ Kabel Deutschland: Kabel Deutschland takes care of liability risks (“Störerhaftung”) June 11, 2015
  40. ↑ heise online: Price increase at Kabel Deutschland : "On March 1, 2007, Kabel Deutschland is increasing the price of cable TV connections for single-family homes from 14.13 to 16.90 euros per month for existing customers."
  41. ↑ Press release of the Lower Saxony consumer center: Price increase at Kabel Deutschland: Consumer center criticizes confusing letter.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.verbüberszentrale-niedersachsen.de  
  42. ↑ heise online: Cable Germany slows file sharing users. March 7, 2008.
  43. ↑ heise online news forum: Cable Germany slows file sharing users. March 7, 2008.
  44. ↑ Sebastian: Confirmation of the throttling of BitTorrent in the Kabel Deutschland network. ( Memento of the original from December 25, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. kabel-blog.de, March 7, 2008. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / kabel-blog.de
  45. ↑ heise online: Kabel Deutschland throttles file sharing for existing customers .
  46. ↑ 100 Kbit / s instead of 100 Mbit / s: Kabel Deutschland is now also throttling older contracts - Golem.de .
  47. ↑ heise online: Vodafone Kabel introduces file sharing throttle at 10 GB per day .
  48. ↑ heise online: Traffic throttle for file sharing: Vodafone Kabel is backing out .
  49. ↑ wiwo.de: Kabel Deutschland: Data from hundreds of thousands of customers forwarded to dubious call centers.
  50. ↑ heise online: Newspaper: data scandal at cable Germany.
  51. ↑ Advertise & Sell Online: Data scandal: Kabel Deutschland separates from call centers. ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. March 30, 2009. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.wuv.de
  52. ↑ Vodafone-Dialogpost works like registered mail. In: Onlinewarnung.de. October 1, 2016, accessed on June 27, 2019 (German).
  53. ↑ Hamburg consumer advice center warns of Vodafone. In: teltarif.de . May 20, 2020, accessed on May 21, 2020 (German).
  54. ↑ heise Security: Fatal security gaps in forced routers from Vodafone / Kabel Deutschland .
  55. ↑ heise Security: Fatal security leak at Kabel Deutschland / Vodafone threatened millions of cable customers .
  56. ↑ Vodafone cable Helpdesk: Power Augsburg
  57. ↑ dehnmedia - terrestrial digital broadcasting
  58. ↑ Vodafone cable Helpdesk: Power Hameln
List of program packages and the programs they contain
Name of the program package Transmitters included in the package
HD channel world
(Vodafone TV Connect,
Vodafone Basic TV,
Vodafone TV)
Vodafone HD Premium
Vodafone HD Premium Plus

Channel package English (channels in English can be booked)

Channel package Greece (channels in Greek can be booked additionally)

Channel package Italy (channels in Italian can be booked additionally)

Channel package Poland (channels in Polish can be booked additionally)

Channel package Portugal (channels in Portuguese can be booked additionally)

Channel package Russia (channels can be booked in Russian)

Channel package Spain (channels can be booked in Spanish)

Channel package Turkey (channels in Turkish can be booked additionally)
Remarks

HD : Available in 1080i HDTV ,

Rg : These television channels are generally available nationwide, with the exception of individual regional variants of MDR, NDR, BR, SWR, RBB and radio-bremen TV and SR Fernsehen