Deutsche Telekom is increasing the speeds in the cable network to up to 1 Gbit/s in the downlink and up to 200 Mbit/s in the uplink. Compared to Vodafone, uploads run at up to four times the speed. At Telekom, the switch from fiber optics to the coaxial cable network only takes place very late at the house connection.
According to planning from July 2020, Vodafone actually wanted to go from 50 to 100 Mbit/s double uplink in the cable tariff market. The necessary preliminary work in the network should be completed by the end of 2020 in order to be able to offer 100 Mbit/s in the course of this year. Now, however, Telekom is rushing forward and cannot save itself the comparison with Vodafone.
As stated in the announcement, Telekom customers with a coaxial cable connection can now surf with up to 1 Gbit/s in the downlink and up to 200 Mbit/s in the uplink. The uplink maximum at Vodafone is still 50 Mbit/s even in the largest gigabit tariff.
Depending on the contract, free upgrade
Anyone who has been using the largest cable tariff to date, “Home Cable Surfing and Telephoning XXL” with 500 Mbit/s in the downlink since October 2020, will receive a free upgrade in the uplink from currently 50 to 100 Mbit/s. Customers who took out their tariff before October 2020 can switch at the end of their contract period. The currently largest tariff “Home cable surfing and telephoning Giga” is offered with 1000 Mbit/s (downlink) or 200 Mbit/s (uplink).
Colleagues would use more copper
With today's announcement, Telekom cannot save itself the swipe in the direction of Vodafone. The fastest speeds are made possible by laying fiber optics right up to the house connection (FTTB) at Telekom and only then switching to the coaxial cable network. “This is where the telecom cable connection differs from hybrid solutions, in which the house supply networks usually only consist of copper and only change into a supraregional fiber optic distribution network (network level 2) behind a distribution box that is more or less far from the house,” it says Look at the colleague. The fiber optic house connection is free of charge for the house owner and the tenant in the expansion regions.
“At Telekom, we try to keep the copper content on network level 4 as low as possible. In the ideal case, the home owner decides directly for FTTH, ie “pure” fiber optics, in the course of the modernization of his property ”, said Jean Pascal Roux, Head of Housing and Broadband Expansion for Business Customers at Telekom.