One of the safest bets for 2009 is that Europe will be treated to faster and faster broadband. Weeks after Virgin Media (NSDQ: VMED) unveiled its 50mbps broadband, Reuters.com reports that Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT) and Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) are teaming up to bring VDSL internet to 100,000 people in two cities, Wuezburg and Heilbronn, ahead of a possible further roll-out of the technology.

Germany already has 50 cities hooked up to VDSL (or very high bit-rate digital line subscriber) which allows tens of mega-bits to be downloaded per second up to 50mbps. The move is part of Vodafone’s wider strategy of promoting its fixed mobile convergence project—in May this year it bought German fixed line operator Arcor for €474 million (£373 million), giving it access to 14 percent of the landline market. The release says Vodafone is contributing “its own switching systems and fibre optic cabling” to the VDSL project, and it’s those assets it hopes will bring home an increased share of the emergent broadband/mobile/phone line market.

Like telcos across the continent, Deutsche Telekom is keen to promote its IPTV VOD service, which currently has 500,000 subscribers, to replace revenue lost through a falling calls and broadband subscription market. And just like VMED in the UK, DT is urging its rivals to invest in expanding high-speed networks across the country and match its investment. CEO Freidrich Joussen says he wants to see “genuine infrastructure competition with the next generation of high-speed internet”.