Vodafone Germany: from challenger to turnaround case
When I moved to San Francisco, Vodafone was a serious challenge to Deutsche Telekom. Coming back, I find a company in deep trouble – and a fibre joint venture that may lose its biggest backer.
📉 Vodafone Germany in crisis – a striking reversal
I spent several years in Silicon Valley and am now looking back at the German telecoms industry. What strikes me most: how badly Vodafone Germany is doing today.
📌 Once a powerful challenger
When I moved to San Francisco, Vodafone was a real challenge for Deutsche Telekom. With its TV cable network, the company could put pressure on the incumbent in many places. The then CEO, Hannes Ametsreiter, slapped the GIGA label on almost every product – sometimes overdoing it, but in the public perception it worked. Vodafone had a convincing offering, both in fixed-line and in mobile.
📉 Today a bruised company
The situation has changed dramatically. Quarter after quarter Vodafone is losing thousands of fixed-line customers in Germany. Yes, the end of the so-called “Nebenkostenprivileg” – a German rule that allowed landlords to bill cable TV directly to tenants as part of utility costs – plays a role. But the problems run deeper.
🚨 Vote of no confidence from Altice
Together with my colleague Jakob Blume I looked at how partner Altice is trying to exit the joint fibre joint venture OXG. Another vote of no confidence in Vodafone’s strategy.
🔄 A chance to change course
Vodafone urgently needs to change direction. With new CEO Marcel de Groot the company has the chance to do so. The German market needs a credible challenger to Deutsche Telekom again. Especially in broadband, there is currently no provider that competes seriously with Deutsche Telekom at the infrastructure level.
I wrote the full piece together with Jakob Blume for Handelsblatt.