With a saturated mobile market, Vodafone Germany would appear to be repositioning itself as an integrated communication provider, and has suggested it wants to play a bigger role within the DSL and broadband cable market.
The company's German CEO, Friedrich Joussen, said that he saw growth potential in data revenue and DSL: "Outsourcing of telecoms services was also a growth story, and these services already contribute roughly 40 per cent of Vodafone Germany's annual sales."
Joussen also suggested the consolidation in the fixed broadband market would start within the next one to three quarters, but was unclear how this process would develop, although recent market rumours have mentioned Vodafone as a possible buyer of cable network providers. The Vodafone executive confirmed support for the idea of collaborating with competitors like Deutsche Telekom in building broadband networks in Germany. However, Joussen declined to elaborate on future partnership projects.
Looking at more immediate issues, Joussen said that his subsidiary might see a ‘slight dip' in sales for the coming year. "Nobody believes that the financial crisis won't affect telecoms. The economic crisis is already affecting parts of our sales, though that's not dramatic given total annual sales of almost €10 billion."
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