Founded in 1988 and headquartered in Montabaur, United Internet AG has more than 28 million fee-based customer contracts worldwide and roughly 40 million ad-financed free accounts, making it one of Europe’s leading Internet specialists. United Internet is expanding its fiber-optic network and establishing its own state-of-the-art mobile network, as well as offering high-performance data centers with strict security and data privacy standards. By doing so, it is laying the foundations for society to participate in the process of digital transformation and to safely navigate the digital world.
The Group’s operating business is broken down into the Access Division, which comprises the Consumer Access and Business Access Segments, and the Applications Division, which consists of the Consumer Applications and Business Applications Segments.
Divisions, segments, and brands (as of December 31, 2023)
The Consumer Access Segment pools mobile internet and fixed-network broadband products (including associated applications such as home networking, online storage, telephony, Smart Home, IPTV, and video-on-demand) of 1&1 AG. Broadband connections are offered as subscription contracts with fixed monthly fees (and variable, volume-based charges).
1&1 is one of Germany’s leading providers. The Company uses 1&1 Versatel’s fiber-optic transportation network, and for VDSL/vectoring connections and fiber-optic connections (“FTTH” = “fiber to the home”) it uses city carriers and Deutsche Telekom (mainly Layer-2) for the “last mile”.
United Internet is also one of Germany’s leading providers for mobile internet products . Since the launch of mobile services on December 8, 2023, 1&1’s mobile communications network has been fully operational. Where 1&1 cannot offer adequate network coverage during its years of network expansion, it uses national roaming. This is currently provided by Telefónica and as of summer 2024 national roaming services are to be procured from Vodafone. National roaming is a standard procedure used in the rollout of new mobile networks that enables customers to surf and make calls without interruption in areas not yet covered. This is achieved by automatically using the roaming partner’s antennas in these areas.
Until 1&1 has migrated its more than 12 million existing customers to its own 1&1 mobile network, it will also use the Telefónica mobile network as a so-called Mobile Bitstream Access Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MBA MVNO), as well as MVNO capacities of Vodafone. As of the beginning of 2024, existing MVNO customers are being gradually migrated to the 1&1 mobile network.
Mobile internet products are marketed via the premium brand 1&1 as well as via discount brands, such as winSIM and sim.de.
United Internet’s Business Access Segment offers a comprehensive range of telecommunications products and services for business customers via 1&1 Versatel. The segment’s business model revolves around its operation of a state-of-the-art fiber-optic network, which is more than 61,000 km long. This is one of the largest networks in Germany and is being continuously expanded. 1&1 Versatel uses the network to offer companies and public authorities telecommunications products ranging from standardized fiber-optic direct connections to customized, individual information and communication solutions (voice, data, and network solutions). In addition, the 1&1 fiber-optic network is used to supply (wholesale) infrastructure services for national and international carriers .
The Consumer Applications Segment is home to United Internet’s consumer applications. These mainly comprise personal information management applications (e-mails, to-do lists, and appointment/address management solutions) and online (cloud) storage, but also include domains, consumer website solutions, and office applications. The portfolio has been expanded, and the GMX and WEB.DE brands have been transformed in recent years from pure-play e-mail providers to end-to-end hubs for user communications, information, and identity management.
Applications for home users are nearly all developed in-house and operated in the Group’s own data centers. The products are offered as pay accounts or ad-financed free accounts. Online advertising is marketed by United Internet Media. With its GMX and WEB.DE brands, United Internet operates primarily in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, with the Company being one of the leading providers in the sector. Like the other segments, this segment has also been pressing ahead with its internationalization strategy since the acquisition of U.S. provider mail.com. mail.com has a presence in other countries such as the United Kingdom, France, and Spain as well as in the U.S.A.
United Internet’s Business Applications Segment opens up internet-based business opportunities for freelancers, self-employed professionals, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), helping them digitalize their processes. Its broad range of products includes subscription-based domains, websites, web hosting, servers, e-shops, group work, online (cloud) storage, and office applications, among other things. Cloud solutions and cloud infrastructure services are also offered. The applications are developed in the Company’s own development centers or in cooperation with partner organizations, and run on more than 100,000 servers in 11 own data centers and 21 co-locations .
United Internet’s Business Applications Segment is also an international leader in its field, with activities in Europe (Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Spain Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Sweden) and North America (the U.S.A., Canada, and Mexico). Applications are marketed to specific target groups using a variety of differently positioned brands: IONOS, Strato, Fasthosts, Arsys, home.pl, InterNetX, united-domains, and World4You. In addition, United Internet’s Sedo brand offers customers professional aftermarket services in the area of active domain management. In another example, the we22 brand offers other hosting providers a white-label website builder for creating high-quality websites.
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