What are these termination letters for a small number of Deutsche Telekom customers all about? Here are the five most important questions and answers on this topic.
Why is Deutsche Telekom reducing the bandwidths of customer lines?
The vectoring build-out will allow Deutsche Telekom to offer bandwidths of up to 100 Mbps to millions of customers. We will be doing so either as our own service using our own network or by purchasing services from competitors. But in the latter case, aside from new rental contracts, the process will also require some technical changes. For this reason, in a number of nearshore areas and for a interim period, instead of our existing 25 and 50 Mbps lines, we will only be able to offer slower bandwidths of up to 16 Mbps.
Is this all the fault of the German Federal Network Agency?
No. The issue is physics. Vectoring can provide substantially broader bandwidths but, for technical reasons, it is only possible for a single carrier to implement vectoring in a particular local loop. In 7,200 nearshore areas, this carrier is Deutsche Telekom, but in almost 400 others the job is being done by a competitor. More than 200 of these nearshore areas are the responsibility of EWE. Deutsche Telekom needs to suspend its live VSDL lines in the areas served by the carrier. To replace them, it will purchase services in the affected nearshore areas from the competitor tasked with developing vectoring in that area. In this case, the competitor is EWE.
Why is Deutsche Telekom terminating the contracts of thousands of customers in Lower Saxony?
Our goal is not to terminate our relationship with these customers, but to continue under a new or modified contract. Deutsche Telekom cannot simply convert over to the different service features of a new technology entirely in the background. For the changeover to happen, the existing contracts with customers will need to be modified. That is why Deutsche Telekom is writing to its customers. A new contract will be necessary in cases where we offer a product on the basis of a cable rented from our competitor. This need arises due to the change in the service being provided. In this regard there the problem often arises that we have difficulties in reproducing such products as our TV offering, Entertain, using such lines.
How exactly will this termination process be conducted?
We are informing affected customers in writing, giving them details on the alternatives available. Unfortunately though, we also have to inform them that we will be forced to terminate the contract if they do not respond to our communications. Before that happens, we will of course contact our customers to ask them to work with us to find a new solution. And we have set up a hotline especially for this purpose. The bulk of the customers to whom we have written have agreed to the temporary ADSL solution, and to a new contract. That means they have not terminated their relationship with us, but now have a new contractual relationship with us.
How long could the interval in which only narrower bandwidths are available last?
The length of the interval will vary, depending on EWE’s progress in its work in the affected nearshore areas, as well as the period left on the contract of affected customers. We expect the period to last several months. We will keep our customers updated. And we will be presenting you with a new offering as soon as possible on the basis of the vectoring work done by EWE, providing bandwidths of up to 100 Mbps.
More info Changes to the network: why Deutsche Telekom is writing to its customers
