Q3 data points - Germany

Deutsche Telekom reported today, and there were a few points of interest from the perspective of this blog. T-Com, the domestic fixed division, grew DSL lines by 458k, which was very strong for a normally subdued quarter, and 100k above what I was looking for. T-Online's share of retail net adds rebounded to 63.5%, but it's interesting also to note that based on today's market figures, United Internet also expanded share of net adds, to 23% from 19% in the previous quarter. This is a company which has been bundling VoIP with DSL during the quarter, so it's interesting to ponder the effect on share of net adds, though the company hasn't disclosed any user numbers.

Coincidentally (?), DT yesterday signed an agreement with Xten for its eyeBeam product, and today DT management were talking about developing a "more aggressive approach" to the IP services space. The other things I noted were a sharper decline in access lines (300k), but the decline in outgoing voice minutes per line was a lot lower (11% YoY, 5.7% sequential), in contrast with the carnage of previous quarters. While DT has lost another 3% of local market share, usage declines in the remaining user base don't look as severe. This begs the question of whether those who have left are higher users/more discriminating/early adopters, and if those left behind are a bit more solid in traditional calling habits. Impossible to answer, but it will be interesting to see how this evolves over the next couple of quarters.