Hard times for Vodafone: Consumers are losing interest

Vodafone is a mobile communications provider and Internet provider, but that’s not all: Those who get TV via cable often get it from the people of Düsseldorf as well. But fewer and fewer customers are still using traditional television.

Vodafone in a bind? Consumers don’t want cable television

The viewing habits of German consumers are changing. Current figures show that more and more consumers are direct switch to internet-based television. The number of households in which the TV is only connected to the Internet has increased tenfold in the past four years, according to a joint study by the state media authorities (source: Statista). IPTV is also not included here.

In comparison, the proportion of those who use the Internet as a complete TV replacement is low. The so-called OTT reception (“over the top”, meaning: past the classic providers) is currently doing 4.7 percent of the TV market the end. Cable TV is still in first place, but only very close to reception via satellite. IPTV and DVB-T follow in 3rd and 4th place.

Since 2011, the share of cable TV customers has fallen from around 50 percent to currently 43.7 percent. Much of the 6.3 percent minus should come from Vodafone’s customer database. And these customers only seem to know one direction: only the Internet-based reception types IPTV and OTT can score a plus with users:

The trend away from classic televisions has been observable for years – and is primarily affecting Vodafone. Of course, there has long been a reaction: the classic TV cables offer one in many households real alternative to landline internet connections via DSL. In the downstream, the speeds are even competitive with fiber optics in many places. So the Düsseldorfers holding on to the TV cable is not unjustified.

The comparison of the streaming providers in the Video – Joyn, a former OTT service, is also there:

Vodafone’s great opportunity: Internet via TV cable

But if you want to win more customers for TV contracts again, there are only two ways to do this: On the one hand, you could lower prices or, for example, not charge a TV surcharge for Internet customers, which is practically an improved combined offer. On the other hand, you could have your own TV program Stock up with internet-based additional offers. Vodafone opted for the latter. A combined tariff with Netflix was recently launched and the Prime Video app was integrated into the GigaTV operating system.