Tele Columbus in wholesale deal with 1&1 Germany

German cable operator Tele Columbus has struck a new wholesale deal with alternative broadband provider 1&1 whereby the latter will have access to all home connected by Tele Columbus to market its services.

Tele Columbus said the long-term partnership would ensure that it achieves higher network utilisation than previously.

1&1 services will be accessible over the Tele Columbus network in Berlin and Montabaur by April 2023.

The deal will enable 1&1 to market additional fixed network products with peak bandwidths of up to 1Gbps in over two million homes on the Tele Columbus network.

The agreement also speaks to the complex interconnected ownership of Tele Columbus and 1&1.

The latter belongs, like 1&1 Versatel, to a group of companies listed under United Internet. United Internet owns a 40% stake in Kublai, the majority shareholder in Tele Columbus with a 40% stake. The remaining 60% is owned by Morgan Stanley.

Tele Columbus has around 2.3 million homes connected to its fibre and cable infrastructure.

“The further opening of the network from April 2023 creates an even greater variety of offers and means real added value for our partners in the housing industry and for all end customers. We are pleased that with 1&1 we were able to win a well-known brand with an attractive product portfolio for this project,” said Daniel Ritz, CEO of Tele Columbus.

“The cooperation with Tele Columbus enables us to further increase our coverage with fast broadband connections. In addition to the existing fibre optic and cable connections of Tele Columbus, we will also have access to fibre optic connections that will be built by Tele Columbus in the future. We look forward to working together to provide even more German households with fast and reliable Internet connections,” said Ralph Dommermuth, CEO of 1&1.