DNS:NET partners with waipu.tv to scale residential fiber bundles

This partnership reflects the accelerating migration of German ISPs away from proprietary TV infrastructure toward managed, white-label IPTV services to reduce operational complexity. By adopting Exaring's platform, DNS:NET can focus resources on fiber rollout while offering a competitive content library comparable to national incumbents. This strategy is critical as the German market enters a high-growth phase following the 2024 repeal of the 'ancillary cost privilege,' which ended mandatory cable fees for millions of tenants. Watch for whether smaller regional altnets follow this consolidation trend to mitigate the high costs of maintaining standalone set-top box ecosystems.

The transition by DNS:NET mirrors a successful strategy deployed by other German fiber operators. Per Broadband TV News, March 2026, Deutsche Glasfaser recently extended its own five-year partnership with waipu.tv after successfully migrating its entire customer base from its legacy 'BrightBlue' TV service. These partnerships allow smaller telcos to leverage waipu.tv’s proprietary fiber-optic backbone, which Exaring claims reached a capacity of 18 Terabit/s by late 2025 to support high-bitrate 4K streaming.

The timing is driven by massive shifts in the German regulatory landscape. According to Ampere Analysis, December 2024, the official revocation of the 'Nebenkostenprivileg' (ancillary cost privilege) on July 1, 2024, triggered a 30% to 40% year-on-year drop in pay-TV subscribers for traditional cable giants like Vodafone and Tele Columbus. In contrast, waipu.tv reported a 48% growth surge during the same period, positioning itself as a primary beneficiary for consumers seeking cheaper, flexible alternatives to legacy cable.

Furthermore, the German IPTV market is projected to reach approximately $4.6 billion by 2033, growing at a 3.08% CAGR starting in 2026, per Transpire Insight. For regional providers like DNS:NET, which has passed over 300,000 homes in the Berlin-Brandenburg region (Telcotitans, July 2025), outsourcing the TV layer is also a financial necessity. Recent reporting from 3i Infrastructure in February 2026 indicated a tightening lending market for German fiber rollouts, forcing altnets to streamline operating expenses and focus capital on physical network expansion rather than software development.