Household Internet Survey Reveals High Fiber Connectivity Rate: 50% of Households Now Equipped with Fiber Internet

Germany is making significant strides in expanding its fiber optic internet network, with a goal of reaching 50% fiber coverage of all households and businesses by the end of 2025 and aiming for nearly 100% nationwide coverage by 2030.

Under the federal Digital Strategy and Gigabit Strategy, major operators like Deutsche Telekom have been rapidly increasing FTTH (fiber-to-the-home) connections, adding about 2.3 million households in Germany in the last year alone, totaling around 11 million households connected. Infrastructure providers like Zayo Europe have also greatly expanded fiber network route miles in Germany, showing strong growth momentum.

However, challenges remain in meeting the 100% coverage goal by 2030. Bureaucratic hurdles in approval processes for network construction and building fiber to apartment buildings efficiently are major obstacles. There has also been controversy and legal disputes over claims that Deutsche Telekom is overbuilding fiber infrastructure in some areas, potentially crowding out competitor providers and complicating the market dynamics of nationwide fiber rollout. The government and regulator (Bundesnetzagentur) are monitoring this situation and aiming to strike a balance between competition and efficient infrastructure expansion.

Extending fiber to rural and less profitable areas, coordinating infrastructure rollout with other technologies such as 5G mobile networks, and streamlining regulatory and planning procedures are other challenges that need to be addressed.

Fiber optic is considered the best technology to meet the increasing demand for data. Industry expert Jens Böcker predicts a share of 60% or slightly more fiber optic connections by the end of 2025. He also states that the "last meters" of expansion are the most difficult and expensive, underscoring the need for targeted funding to ensure comprehensive expansion.

As of mid-2023, 52.8% of German apartments, businesses, and government offices already have fiber optic connections. The figures refer to the "Homes Passed," meaning that fiber optic is at least present in the street in front of the house. This is nearly ten percentage points more than a year ago.

The new federal government of CDU/CSU and SPD has committed to the goal of comprehensive fiber optic expansion without specifying a deadline in its coalition agreement. Federal Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger aims to further increase the pace with faster approvals, priority for network expansion, and additional relief for the industry.

Wildberger states that the country needs fast and reliable networks to fully exploit the digital possibilities. Breko calls on politics to provide investment incentives and planning security to give the fiber optic companies a boost.

In conclusion, Germany is on track to substantially improve fiber optic coverage by 2025 and is targeting full, resource-efficient FTTH coverage by 2030. Achieving 100% coverage depends on overcoming regulatory, competitive, and logistical challenges while maintaining strong investment and coordination across public and private sectors.

[1] Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (2021). Germany's Digital Strategy. Retrieved from https://www.bmwk.de/Redaktion/DE/Downloads/BMWK/Digitalisierung/Digitalstrategie/digitalstrategie.html [2] Zayo Group (2023). Zayo Europe Expands Fiber Network in Germany. Retrieved from https://www.zayo.com/news/zayo-europe-expands-fiber-network-in-germany [3] Deutsche Telekom (2022). Deutsche Telekom increases FTTH connections in Germany. Retrieved from https://www.telekom.com/en/company/media/press-releases/deutsche-telekom-increases-ftth-connections-in-germany [4] Bundesnetzagentur (2023). Bundesnetzagentur monitors Deutsche Telekom's fiber infrastructure expansion. Retrieved from https://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/EN/Topics/Regulation/Broadband/Deutsche-Telekom/deutsche-telekom-netzausbau/deutsche-telekom-netzausbau-node.html

Household Internet Survey Reveals High Fiber Connectivity Rate: 50% of Households Now Equipped with Fiber Internet