Is Freenet AG profitable in 2026?

Yes. Freenet posted FY2025 adjusted EBITDA of 515.4 million euros on 2,439.9 million euros revenue (2025-12-31), and Q1 2026 revenue rose 26.1% year over year, though adjusted EBITDA fell 3.6% in that quarter due to margin pressure.

Freenet AG is independently listed with no controlling shareholder. As of 2026-04-30, mutual funds and ETFs held roughly 28-30%, other institutions about 5-6%, and public/retail investors the remaining ~65%, with holders including Amundi, Deka, BlackRock and Vanguard funds.

Could AI replace Freenet's customer service and sales jobs?

Freenet's plan-comparison, billing and call-center sales functions are AI-exposed, which is why management announced an 'AI-first' strategic pivot in February 2026 targeting cost efficiencies feeding into 2028 EBITDA guidance of at least 620 million euros, but physical retail distribution and waipu.tv content are less exposed.

Is Freenet AG a safe company to join in 2026?

Freenet is a stable MDAX-listed employer with roughly 3,200-3,700 staff and record postpaid subscriber growth in FY2025, but it cut its own Executive Board from six to two members on 2025-09-01, signaling a leaner, faster-moving structure amid margin pressure.

Who is Freenet AG's biggest competitor?

Deutsche Telekom is Freenet's central competitor and structural risk since it is both Freenet's wholesale network supplier and its direct rival in IPTV via MagentaTV, with an active wholesale-contract renegotiation between them expected to resolve in H2 2026.

Is Freenet AG's dividend safe?

Freenet raised its dividend to 2.07 euros per share on 2026-02-25 and committed to a minimum of 2.00 euros or 80% of adjusted free cash flow for 2026-2028, but a pending MNO wholesale renegotiation could cut up to 50 million euros of annual EBITDA, testing that coverage.

Telecom infrastructure · Germany

Freenet AG

freenet.ag ↗

German mobile reseller and waipu.tv IPTV operator renting network capacity from Telekom and Vodafone.

Protection under test

Assessed 25 July 2026 · Evidence as of 25 July 2026

Something worth protecting exists and is being tested right now.

On the recordSince 25 July 2026 · Checkable from H2 2026 · Every call on the record Checkpoint: MNO wholesale contract renegotiation outcome (up to 50M euro EBITDA swing)

The call

Freenet still pays a big dividend off rented network capacity, with a wholesale price fight and falling ARPU deciding how much of that profit survives past 2026.

Freenet buys network capacity from Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone, then resells mobile service and IPTV (waipu.tv) to customers at lower prices. The problem is those two companies are both its suppliers and its direct competitors, so they can raise what they charge Freenet, which cuts into profits. Right now Freenet could lose up to 50 million euros a year this way. The waipu.tv TV service is genuinely popular and hard to replace, but the mobile business is just a commodity that any company with network access can copy. What matters most: whether Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone agree to keep their wholesale prices stable in late 2026, and whether waipu.tv keeps growing while prices to customers keep falling.

Why

AI pressure: AI-driven tariff comparison and switching tools. AI plan-comparison apps make it trivial to shop MVNO tariffs, pushing ARPU down further as customers switch for pennies. Could AI do the core job? Only partly.

Bigger players: Deutsche Telekom AG. Telekom sells Freenet wholesale mobile capacity and runs MagentaTV against waipu.tv, and is squeezing wholesale terms now. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.

What protects it. waipu.tv's 2 million growing IPTV subscribers give Freenet a real product Telekom does not fully control.

What would change this call

Outcome of the H2 2026 wholesale renegotiation with Deutsche Telekom or Vodafone. Shows whether the EBITDA hit lands near €50M (severe squeeze) or near €0 (contained).
ARPU trend in Q2 and Q3 2026 reports versus the -5.4% Q1 2026 figure. Shows whether discount MVNO price pressure is accelerating or stabilizing.
waipu.tv subscriber growth rate versus Deutsche Telekom's MagentaTV subscriber figures. Shows whether freenet's IPTV asset holds share against its own network supplier.

Key numbers

FY2025 revenue: 2,439.9M euros, down 1.5% (2025-12-31)
FY2025 adjusted EBITDA: 515.4M euros (2025-12-31)
waipu.tv subscribers: 2.02M, up 4.1% (2025-09-30)

Named risks

MNO wholesale renegotiation could cut up to 50 million euros annual EBITDA, resolution due H2 2026. Severity: high
No owned network makes Freenet structurally dependent on supplier-competitors Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone. Severity: high
Mobile ARPU decline accelerating from -3% FY2025 to -5.4% Q1 2026. Severity: medium
Dividend commitment of at least 2.00 euros or 80% of FCF could be strained by cash-flow shortfall. Severity: medium
Integration execution risk from ~230 million euro mobilezone Germany acquisition closed 2025-12-29. Severity: medium

Rivals, as read in July 2026

Rival	Direction	Evidence
Deutsche Telekom AG	contesting	Wholesale supplier and MagentaTV IPTV rival renegotiating terms, resolution expected H2 2026
Vodafone Germany	contesting	Second wholesale network supplier also subject to contract renegotiation pressure in 2026
1&1 AG	contesting	CEO Robin Harries, ex-1&1, explicitly tasked to compete against former employer since 2025-06-01
Discount MVNOs (Aldi Talk, Lidl Connect)	gaining on	Over 30 MVNOs compress mobile ARPU, contributing to FY2025 -3% and Q1 2026 -5.4% ARPU decline

Questions people ask

Is Freenet AG profitable in 2026?: Yes. Freenet posted FY2025 adjusted EBITDA of 515.4 million euros on 2,439.9 million euros revenue (2025-12-31), and Q1 2026 revenue rose 26.1% year over year, though adjusted EBITDA fell 3.6% in that quarter due to margin pressure.
Who owns Freenet AG?: Freenet AG is independently listed with no controlling shareholder. As of 2026-04-30, mutual funds and ETFs held roughly 28-30%, other institutions about 5-6%, and public/retail investors the remaining ~65%, with holders including Amundi, Deka, BlackRock and Vanguard funds.
Could AI replace Freenet's customer service and sales jobs?: Freenet's plan-comparison, billing and call-center sales functions are AI-exposed, which is why management announced an 'AI-first' strategic pivot in February 2026 targeting cost efficiencies feeding into 2028 EBITDA guidance of at least 620 million euros, but physical retail distribution and waipu.tv content are less exposed.
Is Freenet AG a safe company to join in 2026?: Freenet is a stable MDAX-listed employer with roughly 3,200-3,700 staff and record postpaid subscriber growth in FY2025, but it cut its own Executive Board from six to two members on 2025-09-01, signaling a leaner, faster-moving structure amid margin pressure.
Who is Freenet AG's biggest competitor?: Deutsche Telekom is Freenet's central competitor and structural risk since it is both Freenet's wholesale network supplier and its direct rival in IPTV via MagentaTV, with an active wholesale-contract renegotiation between them expected to resolve in H2 2026.
Is Freenet AG's dividend safe?: Freenet raised its dividend to 2.07 euros per share on 2026-02-25 and committed to a minimum of 2.00 euros or 80% of adjusted free cash flow for 2026-2028, but a pending MNO wholesale renegotiation could cut up to 50 million euros of annual EBITDA, testing that coverage.

Timeline

2026-07-09Stock down ~40% from May 2025 peak amid MNO wholesale renegotiation uncertainty, per investor newsletter
2026-03-31Q1 2026 revenue up 26.1% YoY on mobilezone consolidation, adjusted EBITDA down 3.6%
2026-02-25FY2025 results: dividend raised to 2.07 euros, record postpaid and IPTV EBITDA growth, AI-first pivot announced
2025-12-29Closed ~230 million euro acquisition of mobilezone's German business (Sparhandy, simyo, HIGH, etc.)
2025-11-01Q3 2025 statement: 10.36 million total subscribers, waipu.tv reaches 2.02 million (+4.1%)
2025-10-08Freenet signs agreement to acquire mobilezone Germany business
2025-09-01Executive Board reduced from six to two members (CEO Harries, CFO Arnold)
2025-06-01Robin Harries becomes CEO, tasked with competing against former employer 1&1

Revision history

25 July 2026

First assessed. Protection under test. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.

In the same band

H3C Technologies Extreme Networks Airspan Networks