BONN (dpa-AFX) - Following the end of the "service charge privilege", under which tenants had to pay for their TV connection via the operating costs and cable network operators such as Vodafone had a major advantage as a result, Deutsche Telekom is on the upswing. After deducting cancellations, 114,000 customers were added to Magenta TV in the second quarter, the company announced in Bonn. The total number is now around 4.5 million.

This means that growth has accelerated, compared with a net increase of just 73,000 in the first quarter of the year. Telekom invested heavily in advertising during the European Football Championship and other events in order to boost business - which is probably one of the reasons for the increase in demand. In the view of company boss Tim Hottges, the Magenta TV brand received "a boost" in the past quarter.

Expensive advertising campaign bears fruit

In addition to TV customers who are tied to a connection, there are also so-called OTT customers, which stands for "Over the Top". They receive Magenta TV outside of their Internet contract and do not need a receiver. "Several hundred thousand" of these contracts have been sold, says CFO Christian Illek. However, some of them are only short-term customers: they have booked Magenta TV because of its extensive offer for the European Football Championship, but have already canceled the contract or intend to do so.

Ancillary cost privilege is history

Since July 1, the costs for the television signal may no longer be passed on to the tenant via the service charge bill. This option had been available for decades, giving top dog Vodafone, for example, a clear competitive advantage, also known as the "service charge privilege". The German subsidiary of a British group had around 8.5 million customers who paid for their TV connection in this way - whether they wanted to or not. The landlords had concluded corresponding collective contracts.

This is no longer possible - customers must have a contract with the TV provider themselves or voluntarily take part in a new form of collective contract. Since the beginning of the year, Vodafone has lost around 1.3 million customers as a result of this change in the law, and there is likely to be another significant drop in the summer quarter.

Different types of transmission

There are various ways to watch television. This can be via satellite, antenna, cable and the Internet. There are freely accessible channels on the Internet, for example via the ARD Mediathek. However, private channels are generally not available free of charge and customers have to pay for them. Internet providers such as Zattoo, waipu.tv and Magenta TV also offer access to such channels, and these providers are now on course for growth.

Compared to Vodafone's heavy losses, Telekom's gain of around 187,000 customers since the beginning of the year is limited. When asked about this, CFO Christian Illek points out that there are also customers who no longer want linear TV at all. "They have left the forced connection and no longer want a TV connection at all." It is unclear how many these are. "But overall, we are very satisfied with the development of TV," says the Deutsche Telekom CEO./wdw/DP/zb