Deutsche Telekom in big push for T-Home Entertain

August 29, 2008 - Deutsche Telekom has revealed plans for a major push for its "T-Home Entertain" IPTV service, and aims to reach 500,000 subscribers by the end of this year, compared to 250,000 at the end of the second quarter of this year, as well as expand its broadband footprint.

Speaking at a press conference at the IFA event currently taking place in Berlin, Deutsche Telekom stated that it plans to connect a further ten cities to its nationwide VDSL network (Kiel, Rostock, Bielefeld, Freiburg, Hagen, Krefeld, Lübeck, Oberhausen and Solingen), bringing the total number of German cities connected to its IPTV-capable VDSL network to 50. IPTV via ADSL2+ meanwhile is targeted for around 1,000 cities and municipalities by the end of 2008.

"Deutsche Telekom is aware of its responsibility for Germany, and is equipping virtually the whole country with fast Internet lines," said Timotheus Höttges, member of the Board of Management responsible for T-Home Sales & Service at Deutsche Telekom. "At the end of 2008, we will be supplying 96 percent of all households with DSL, in over eighty percent of them with lines featuring speeds in excess of 2 Mbit/s. In concrete figures, this means that 400,000 more households will be connected to the high-speed network in 2008 – a good 140,000 of them in areas that were previously without the service. No other company invests as much in broadband expansion in Germany as Deutsche Telekom."

Deutsche Telekom is also offering a free two-month trial for its "T-Home Entertain" service, with a technician installing required equipment including a PVR-enabled set-top box and Wi-Fi router. After the trial, customers can subscribe to the basic Entertain package for €10 per month. Following an agreement with local media group ProSiebenSat.1, T-Home will also add a further 2,000 on-demand titles to its VOD library, available at no additional cost to viewers, as well as offer Warner Bros movie titles on a Day & Date basis, making them available at the same day as the DVD release.

The telco has also added a large number of Internet radio stations to its line-up, offering over 2,500 German and international stations on an indexed and searchable basis. Finally, the company recently added an interactive service called Bundesliga Interaktiva to its coverage of the German premier football league, giving subscribers access to the best goals, top match scenes or controversial refereeing decisions at the press of a button. The first half of the Bundesliga season is available for free until mid-September, after when it will cost €9.99 per month.