German cable operators invest in public WiFi

kabel deutschland

Vodafone-owned Kabel Deutschland and Liberty Global-owned Unitymedia have separately announced plans to roll out major public WiFi initiatives in Germany.

Kabel Deutschland is rolling out two business and community-focused initiatives – Hotspot Business Pro and Hotspot Business City – offering internet speeds of up to 200Mbps downstream.

Kabel Deutschland is targeting the hospitality industry as well as cities and municipalities that want to provide hotspots across larger areas – including multiple rooms within hotels – than those covered by the company’s existing network of hotspots. Currently, the cable operator provides over 750,000 hotspots across the country.

Earlier, Unitymedia announced it would bring WiFi to up to 100 city centre sites across North-Rhine Westphalia, Hesse and Baden-Württemberg from August. Unitymedia will embark on a programme of upgrading amplifiers in city centre sites with WLAN capability. The company also plans to market PowerSpot, a service targeted at business users that want to offer customers free WiFi.