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After approval from the EU, the government aims to increase fibre network funding from €12 billion to €38 billion
Last Tuesday, the European Commission gave approval to the German government to amend the exiting state aid scheme aimed at rolling out fibre across the country. These amendments will see the scheme extended until the end of 2028, and the budget increase from 12 billion to €38 billion.
The funding is available for local authorities either to deploy and own their own fibre infrastructure, or to tender out both the deployment and operation of the network. Areas eligible for funding are those that only have access to single network providing speeds up to 300 Mbps and where upgrading that network to gigabit-capable speeds is not part of existing investment plans.
Following the approval of these amendments from the European Commission, the German government has moved rapidly, approving a new draft law the following day that they claim will rapidly expanding the fibre network rollout across the country: the TK Network Expansion Acceleration Act (TK-NABEG).
The TK-NABEG focuses on removing bureaucratic red tape that typically stands in the way of network deployments. The Act defines the rollout of telecommunications infrastructure as “in the overriding public interest”, therefore the process of obtaining ‘right of way’ approvals will be streamlined and accelerated.
“With this law, we are accelerating the urgently needed expansion of our digital infrastructure. In doing so, we are sending an important signal to the economy that we are determined to drive forward digitalization. This government can reconcile environmental protection and the modernization of our country. The expansion of our telecommunications networks will be in the overriding public interest in the future,” said Dr. Volker Wissing, Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and Transport.
“This will strengthen network expansion, create better planning and give companies legal certainty. Together with simplified procedures and more precise information in the Gigabit land register, we are laying an important foundation for providing Germany with fiber optics and the latest mobile communications standards across the board by 2030,” he continued.
In many ways, this increase in public funding and easing of rollout restrictions cannot come soon enough for Germany. The country has long been a laggard among its European peers when it comes to fibre – a fact which the government says is greatly hindering the country’s economic growth.
The government is also racing to meet its target of 50% fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) penetration by the end of 2025, itself a stepping stone to meeting the European Union’s goal of connection 100% of premises across the block to FTTP.
Figures from the German regulator, the Bundesnetzagentur, put the number of homes passed at 17.9 million at the end of 2023. With roughly 43 million homes in Germany, this means there is still plenty of work to be done to meet the ambitious target for the end of 2025.
Germany’s fibre rollout is accelerating fast. Join the connectivity ecosystem in discussion at this year’s Connected Germany conference live in Munich
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