UPC Austria
| UPC Austria | |
|---|---|
| legal form | GmbH |
| founding | 1977 |
| resolution | 2019 |
| Reason for dissolution | Merger with T-Mobile Austria to form Magenta Telekom |
| Seat | Vienna , Austria |
| management | Andreas Bierwirth , CEO |
| Number of employees | around 1,100 |
| sales | ~ 342 million euros (2016) |
| Branch | telecommunications |
The UPC Austria GmbH , headquartered in Vienna was a provider of Internet, television and fixed telephony services and mobile services . It was a subsidiary of the British Liberty Global until July 31, 2018 and part of the regional organization together with UPC Switzerland from 2014 until the end of 2018 . On August 1, 2018, all Austrian UPC companies were taken over by T-Mobile Austria. The company was merged with T-Mobile Austria to form Magenta Telekom , under which tele.ring will also be active in Austria in the future . As a result of the takeover and merger of UPC Austria, products and services have been sold under the newly created Magenta and T brands since May 7, 2019 ; the old brand names were no longer applicable.
Company data
Around 90 percent of all Austrian households and companies with their own cable network infrastructure, unbundled lines or DSL services were in the UPC supply area in Austria . As of September 30, 2017, UPC was supplying 653,200 customers in Austria with over 1.48 million services (around 468,000 television, 512,000 broadband internet, 450,000 landline and 56,000 mobile customers). In the end, UPC employed almost 1,100 people from 31 countries in Austria.
history
UPC Austria was founded under the name Telekabel in 1977 as a subsidiary of the Austrian Philips Industrie GmbH (95%) and Kabel-TV Wien (5%) and made it possible to receive German television programs in Austria for the first time. Almost 20 years later, in 1997, the merger of the cable TV division of Philips with the cable TV operator UIH (United International Holdings) resulted in the new company called UPC. Just one year later, the company became a so-called “triple player”, offering television, internet and telephone from a single source.
This offer was expanded in 2014 to include mobile services. From 2005 on, UPC was also a subsidiary of Liberty Global, the largest international cable network operator. Together with UPC Switzerland - also owned by Liberty Global - UPC Austria had been combined into a regional organization since 2014. This was followed in 2016 by re-branding including a new UPC company logo.
On December 21, 2017, Deutsche Telekom AG and Liberty Global plc. with the fact that T-Mobile wants to take over the Liberty subsidiary UPC Austria for 1.9 billion euros. With the takeover, Deutsche Telekom is continuing the strategy it has already implemented in many markets (most recently in the Netherlands) of offering customers mobile communications, landline networks and the Internet. The takeover also gives T-Mobile Austria access to the fiber optic network in order to offer television, broadband and Voice over IP. The purchase price also included the right to use the UPC brand for a period of three years until full integration into the Deutsche Telekom Group is complete. On July 9, 2018, the European Commission announced the approval of the takeover of UPC Austria by T-Mobile Austria.
The sale was completed on July 30, 2018, after deducting debts of approx. 1 billion euros remains a net purchase price of 900 million euros. Since May 7, 2019, the two companies T-Mobile Austria and UPC Austria have appeared as the new joint company Magenta Telekom .
Products and services
The UPC network in Austria
UPC has been offering broadband internet via telecable since 1999, making it the first broadband provider in Austria. In 2005, the Internet service provider inode was taken over. Since then, unbundled DSL has also been part of the UPC product range. In 2009, UPC also integrated its broadband Internet under the chello brand into the UPC corporate brand, thereby establishing the fiber power network, which is now known as Speed Packs . With its high-speed network, UPC supplies over half a million households in Austria and enables nationwide internet speeds of up to 300 Mbit / s in the fiber-optic cable network. These speeds were made possible by a hybrid network of glass fiber and coaxial cable (HFC technology).
Partner model and Autostrada
UPC not only enabled access to its products and services via its own fiber optic cable network, but also reached regions outside of its own supply area with the so-called partner model. The company worked closely with local network operators and partners in order to use the existing networks on site. UPC also continuously invested in its own network. As part of the Autostrada program presented in March 2016, more than 250 million euros were to be invested in the new development of an additional 250,000 households in Austria and Switzerland - in addition to the annual investments in Austria. In 2017 (as of December), 38,000 new households were connected.
UPC (digital) TV
UPC distributed digital TV and radio stations. In September 2017, UPC completed the full digitization in Austria, by means of which the analogue transmission signals in Austria's federal states have been gradually converted to digital since spring 2016. In 2017, the most customer-rich region of Vienna and Vienna / the surrounding area saw the switch to digital TV and radio signals. In 2017, the company offered three different TV products on the Austrian market: TV Easy (65 digital TV channels, 10 of which in HD), TV Comfort (130/40) and TV Top (180/80). The company began broadcasting HDTV on its digital TV platform on May 6, 2008. The company offered the "National Geographic Channel HD" as the first high-definition broadcaster. ORF1 HD was also fed in just in time for the 2008 European Football Championship.
UPC TV App, Replay TV & On Demand
With the UPC TV app, UPC's television offering has also been available on mobile devices since 2014. Depending on the UPC product, up to 100 channels could be received. In April 2017, the 7-day replay function was also integrated into the app, which gives customers the opportunity to watch films and series from the last 7 days on up to 53 channels, 40 of them in HD. Replay TV on the UPC TV app was available free of charge to both UPC-TV-Mini and Horizon-TV-Start and Plus-HD customers.
Since October 2016 UPC has also been offering its Horizon HD Recorder as the successor to the MediaBox in Austria. The replay function was also introduced on this at the end of October 2017. UPC also offered an extensive selection of on-demand content - both on the Horizon HD Recorder and on the UPC MediaBox HD.
Digital telephony
UPC offered Voice over Cable in the supply areas connected to the cable network . By using a VoIP- enabled cable modem with eMTA, customers can use conventional landline phones for digital telephony. In the DSL-developed areas, VoIP was possible using a VoIP gateway , a type of adapter, provided by the provider .
Cellular
Since 2015, UPC's offer has also included mobile communications for its customers. UPC offered its wireless services on Drei's existing wireless network and was therefore an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) provider. The company provided all services independently, with the exception of the use of Drei cell phone antennas. At the end of September 2017, 56,000 people in Austria had a UPC mobile phone subscription.
www.esports.at
In November 2017 the website www.esports.at went online, which focuses on the eponymous sport, eSports. In addition to expert interviews with athletes and those familiar with the scene, reports, event reports and background information on the subject of eSports in Austria are regularly published on the website. The eGamer community is actively involved. UPC has been involved in the eSports and gaming scene for a long time. In October 2016, UPC had already established esports.ch, a platform in Switzerland that provides intensive support for sport and its community. In addition, UPC Austria awarded the prize in the “Game of the Year” category at the futurezone Award 2017 and the “Gaming” category at the Austrian Video Awards.
Wi-Free
After a first successful pilot project with around 15,000 customers in Graz in the summer of 2015, UPC became the first telecommunications provider in Austria to enable its internet customers to surf the Internet free of charge and unlimited with Wi-Free in November 2015 - both in Austria and in other European countries where Liberty Global is active (see graphic). Wi-Free worked via a second, separate wireless network that is completely independent of the customer's home network and does not affect the download or upload speed or the data volume of the home network. The Wi-Free network has its own speeds (download: 10 Mbit / s, upload: 2 Mbit / s), which are also made available. In addition, Wi-Free is protected by the global WPA2 security standard.
Sponsorship
Vienna Capitals
UPC was a sponsor of the Vienna Ice Hockey Club Vienna Capitals .
UPC-Arena Graz-Liebenau
From 2006 to 2016, UPC gave the Liebenau football stadium its name (formerly Arnold Schwarzenegger Stadium Graz-Liebenau ) in Graz . It was officially inaugurated on February 18, 2006 as the UPC Arena with the 125th Graz City Derby. According to then UPC chairman Thomas Hintze, the contract was concluded for ten years (until 2016). The renaming was necessary because the California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger withdrew the right to use his name after the protests in Austria because of the execution of Stanley "Tookie" Williams .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.libertyglobal.com/pdf/fixed-income/UPC-Fixed-Income-Release-Q3-2017-FINAL.pdf
- ↑ https://www.upc.at/produktpakete/internet-fernsehen/
- ↑ derStandard.at: UPC takeover: The "T-Mobile" brand will disappear in 2019 . Article dated August 2, 2018, accessed August 2, 2018.
- ↑ Two become one: T-Mobile and UPC make the ultimate promise for Austria's digital future ; accessed on September 8, 2018
- ↑ T-Mobile and UPC from 2019 under the “T” brand ; accessed on September 8, 2018
- ↑ https://www.upc.at/ueber-upc/presse/pressearchiv/drittes-quartal-2017-upc-weiter-auf-wachsenskurs/
- ↑ https://www.upc.at/karriere
- ↑ http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-18-4423_de.htm
- ↑ INFOSAT Verlag & Werbe GmbH: Liberty Global completes sale of UPC Austria . In: INFOSAT & INFODIGITAL - Everything from the digital world . July 31, 2018 ( infosat.de [accessed on August 2, 2018]).
- ↑ https://www.upc.at/ueber-upc/presse/pressearchiv/upc-startet-millionen-investitionsprogramm-autostrada/
- ↑ https://www.upc.at/ueber-upc/presse/pressearchiv/upc-schliesst-mit-partnermodell-23-gemeinden-in-oesterreich-an/
- ↑ https://www.upc.at/ueber-upc/presse/pressearchiv/upc-schliesst-volldigitalisierung-oesterreichs-erffektreich-ab/
- ↑ https://www.upc.at/ueber-upc/presse/pressearchiv/zeitversetztes-fernsehen-mit-replay-tv-auf-horizon-go/
- ↑ https://www.upc.at/ueber-upc/presse/pressearchiv/bei-upc-wird-mit-replay-tv-jeder-moment-zur-tv-primetime/
- ↑ https://www.upc.at/fernsehen/on-demand/so-funktioniert-on-demand/
- ↑ https://www.upc.at/ueber-upc/presse/pressearchiv/esports-at-upc-praesentiert-erste-esports-plattform-fuer-oesterreich/
- ↑ https://www.upc.at/internet/wlan/wi-free/