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5,300 readers of Computer Bild voted NetCologne the best ISP in Germany, outpolling DT, several large competitors, and the many emerging cablecos. Across Germany, Bild reports, "DSL customers are still angry about lousy service. Not even one in two customers would recommend their provider." (Google translation) NetCologne, with 500,000 customers, was an exception, leading in both speed and service. 

    NetCologne is rapidly transitioning customers to their own fiber network. Their current lead offer is 35 euro - about $50 - for 50 megabit down and voice calls. That includes the much-liked Fritzbox from AVM for the home  network. They are offering service to other carriers and recently struck a deal with Vodafone. 

     Other cities on the Cologne Bonn region are clamoring to join because they want a great Internet. There's a myth in some circles, especially in the U.S., that government broadband is inevitably a failure.

 

In fact, many are successful but they don't have carrier shills to repeat their stories. Personally, I'm all in favor of private companies if they deliver good service at a reasonable price, which I believe the consumer deserves. I also think that a great Internet is important enough government needs to step in when the market doesn't deliver.

     Building fiber remains expensive, at $700-$2,000 per home in most places. The direct return usually takes 5-15 years. That's tough for a private company, perfectly ordinary for a government body that merely needs to cover the cost of funds at 4-8%. That's the impetus behind the fiber plans in Australia, New Zealand, and municipalities around the world. 

     Both UTOPIA and Burlington fiber projects in the U.S. are in deep trouble because the newly created companies were remarkably inefficient at startup. In both cases, things are improving over time. Most muni builds led by competent existing electric utilities are doing fine.

From Wikipedia.de in Google translation

NetCologne

 Sales in fiscal year 2009 amounted to 324 million euros, the investment volume in the years 1995 to 2009 amounts to EUR 516.9 million €. The company currently employs approximately 757 employees, including 19 trainees. In early 2006 the NetCologne Bolwin Wulf architects planned new headquarters of the media center ofCologne Ossendorf "On Coloneum. On 1 April 2009, established the sister company NETAACHEN GmbH, a joint venture of the two regional carriers accom GmbH & Co. KG and NetCologne GmbH

The company-owned telecommunications network includes more than 3,500 km of NetCologne fiber optic cable , 755 km coaxial cable and 887 km of copper cable ^[1] . NetCologne rents the last piece of cable, the so-called last mile , from the Deutsche Telekom to. By expanding its own fiber optic network "CityNetCologne" NetCologne customers can connect directly in the future and does so step by step from the Telekom independent. The circuit of copper wire to customers, on the fiber optic network by means of NetCologne Optical Network Units (ONU). The network of NetCologne is the DE-CIX andECIX connected.

The call processing network of NetCologne currently consists of five switching centers, which are mutually vollvermascht. Each exchange also has connections to other network operators, in particular those of the German Telekom. The exchanges come from the system manufacturer Alcatel-Lucent .

For the network expansion towards the Rhine-Erft , Aachen / Düren and Lohmar , Rösrath and Overath was NetCologne in recent years to a multi-functional and future-oriented access node (MSAN Multiservice Access Node =) from Marconi AXH named. He makes a seamless transition possible both to new broadband services and IP-based network structures. As a side effect of working capital and investment costs are reduced.

Since July 2005, the existing DSLAMs from Alcatel-Lucent on the current conditions, so that now virtually the entire expansion area ADSL2 + can be offered nationwide.

Since 2006, NetCologne step by step in Cologne a new fiber-optic network, the "CityNetCologne. Here, the glass fibers to the cellars of the houses down in (called "fiber to the building", or " FTTB ") and the houses within the existing cabling used. With this technology data transfer rates of up to 100 Mbit / s in downstream possible.

Since December 2006 provides NetCologne in the expansion areas CityNetCologne voice and Internet services to residential customers. The cable-TV package that is distributed via NetCologne CityNetCologne. As in the multi-cable, there are offers for a single user and multi-user contracts.

In 2010, NetCologne will continue its FTTB expansion in the cities of Wuppertal, Solingen, Ratingen and Siegburg.

Since 1996, NetCologne offers in the Cologne / Bonn with "multi-cable" as cable television, since late 2005 in addition to the analog and digital TV channels under the name "multi-cable vision." This NetCologne occurs in competition with the cable company Unity Media . The program offers NetCologne derived in part from provider Eutelsat , partly fed NetCologne programs in yourself. Overall NetCologne offers over 330 multi-cable to analog and digital TV and radio programs. Since 2007, marketed NetCologne Cable TV also has optical fiber under the name "CityNetTV", the contents are identical to the multi-cable.