A fifth of T-Online customers aren’t actually using the DSL lines they signed-up for, T-Online told shocked investors yesterday, according to consulting group, Ovum.
As well as admitting that 2.25 million DSL subscribers aren’t using it, the original subscriber figure was corrected and scaled down by over one third from 3.4 million to 2.14 million.
The definition of an inactive account by T-Online is ‘a household that hasn’t been online for over 30 days’ but Ovum said: “The reaction to inactive users appears exaggerated. Many people have plenty of reason not to be online every week for 12 months in the year. A one month break cannot always be translated into a dead account.”
However, Ovum says that failure to initially project a realistic number of DSL subscribers is a far more serious issue and is asking the question “whether T-Online has deliberately bolstered subscriber figures and whether other ISP do the same.”
Looking on the upside, Ovum said: “If one assumes that other ISP have projected their figures accurately, it is partially good news for RegTP, the German regulator, as it shows that the German broadband market is more competitive than was declared in the recent regulators annual report. In fact, T-Online’s share is now a full 10% smaller. But the recent reference by Ofcom, the British regulator, to a thriving Germany broadband market now looks somewhat premature.”
T-Online’s quarter one results will be announced tomorrow.
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