PRESS RELEASE
Optimum bandwidth management and more protection against outages
Tele Columbus provides service to households in Saxony-Anhalt through regional optical fibre ring
– Optical fibre connects important network locations in Saxony-Anhalt
– Rapid response for capacity adjustments
– Redundant, fail-safe signal provision
Berlin, 22 Oktober 2020. Tele Columbus AG has put into operation an optical fibre ring that provides coverage to many key network locations in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt over a distance of more than 377 kilometres. Connecting to the new optical fibre ring enables easily scalable connections to Internet backbones and opens up opportunities for the realisation of a redundant, centralised TV signal feed.
Tele Columbus Group customers in Saxony-Anhalt using TV and Internet products marketed under the PŸUR brand will benefit from the new fibre optic connections. The optical fibre ring connects the strategically important network locations in Haldensleben, Magdeburg, Burg, Zerbst, Coswig (Anhalt), Wittenberg, Köthen and Bernburg, allowing for increased bandwidth demand to be met rapidly by allocating additional wavelengths. The optical fibre ring’s signals are redundant to ensure top-quality signal availability at all times.
In Saxony-Anhalt, the Tele Columbus Group operates a large number of modern cable networks, some of which already offer fibre-to-the-building (FTTB) connections. Internet bandwidths of up to 400 Mb/s are therefore currently available in most areas. The networks themselves have the technical potential to deliver gigabit connections as well.
“We have seen a remarkable increase in data volume in recent years,” says Dietmar Pöltl, Chief Technology Officer of Tele Columbus. “Thanks to the central connection, we are now able to respond far faster to demand for higher bandwidths or rising network load. The optical fibre ring also increases the reliability of our services and lowers maintenance expense and effort at the network locations, which have not been centrally managed so far.”
For the optical fibre ring in Saxony-Anhalt, Tele Columbus is relying largely on leased dark fibre. To enable the connection via the optical fibre cables, Tele Columbus has set up nine locations for the necessary modulation technology. Targeted expansions of the fibre optic lines used by the Tele Columbus B2B division PŸUR Business are also part of the optical fibre ring for the state Saxony-Anhalt.
This is the second commissioning of a regional optical fibre ring for the Tele Columbus Group in 2020. Additional regional optical fibre rings are under construction in order to decrease the number of decentralised subnetworks and further improve service quality.
About us
Tele Columbus AG is one of Germany’s leading fibre network operators which reaches more than 3 million homes. Via its brand PŸUR, the Company, offers high-speed internet including telephony and more than 250 TV channels. All of this via a digital entertainment platform that combines linear TV with video on demand entertainment. To its housing association partners the Tele Columbus Group offers tailored models of cooperation and state-of-the-art services such as telemetric and tenant portals. As a full-service partner for municipalities and regional utilities, the Company is actively supporting the fibre-based infrastructure and broadband internet expansion in Germany. For its business customers the Group offers carrier services and corporate solutions on its proprietary fibre network. Besides its headquarter in Berlin, the Company has locations in Hamburg, Leipzig, Ratingen and Unterföhring/Munich. Since January 2015, Tele Columbus AG is listed on the regulated market (Prime Standard) of the Frankfurt Stock exchange and a member of the SDAX.
Disclaimer
This release may contain forward-looking statements. These statements reflect the Company’s current knowledge and expectations and projections about future events. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks, uncertainties and assumptions may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In light of these risks and uncertainties, the forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this release may not occur and actual results could differ materially from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this document.
This release contains references to certain non-GAAP financial measures, such as Normalized EBITDA and Capex, and operating measures, such as RGUs, ARPU, and Unique Subscribers calculations. These non-GAAP financial and operating measures should not be viewed in isolation as alternatives to measures of the Company’s financial condition, results of operations or cash flows as presented in accordance with IFRS. The non-GAAP financial and operating measures used by the Company may differ from, and not be comparable to, similarly titled measures used by other companies.
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