T-Online, the ISP arm of German incumbent phone company, Deutsche Telekom is taking it on the chin from rival broadband service providers. A price war between T-Online, Freenet.de and Vodafone’s Arcor fixed line subsidiary pushed T-Online’s profits down 82% in the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter this year they made about $13 million in profits, versus last year. Sales were up, a miniscule 2.5%.
The good news, (I guess), all these price cuts helped T-Online add 1.5 million new DSL customers. But this good news is going to last only for so long – most of the companies are thinking/planning transition to fiber and we can expect the ‘speed-wars’ in that market. More on the German market @ Broadband Wiki.
PS: If you are a reader based in Germany, and would like to contribute to GigaOM on the latest developments in Germany, drop me a note with “contributor” in the subject line.
Let me double that PS, please! It is so difficult for Americans to find English-language news from German bloggers; I hope some of you will take up Om’s offer.
@Jason
English is very common in Germany but it’s an another story to write articles for an english speaking audience. If you are interested in a foreign market and/or cultures, maybe you should learn a little bit German, just give it a try! 🙂