Wissing: Copper-glass migration "an urgent issue"

Federal Digital Minister Volker Wissing (non-party) sees the upcoming shutdown of Deutsche Telekom's copper access networks as "one of the most urgent issues" in the coming years. "We want to make the path to this as non-discriminatory as possible," said Wissing on Thursday at the annual conference of the German Broadband Association (Breko) in Berlin.

The migration from copper to glass is preoccupying the industry because Deutsche Telekom's interests are colliding head-on with those of its competitors. While Deutsche Telekom would like to migrate its VDSL customers to its own fiber optic infrastructure, other network operators fear that this would perpetuate the traditionally strong market power of the former state-owned company into the fiber optic age.

Controversial debate

The debate is becoming increasingly heated. Only on Wednesday, Telekom Germany CEO Srini Gopalan accused the competition of only being interested in a "forced change of provider" – and that the debate was only distracting from the essentials: the urgently needed network expansion.

Chief regulator Klaus Müller, who plays a decisive role in the copper-glass migration, is not a fan of the vehement bickering and calls the industry to order. "This controversial debate and terms such as forced shutdown are not helpful," warns Müller. "These are terms that stir up fears, and that's not what we need for fiber optic expansion."

In view of the different interests involved, Andreas Mundt, head of the Federal Cartel Office, believes that the market alone will not be able to solve the problem. "Competition will not solve this," said Mundt. "Such migration processes require change management." This would then be the role of authorities such as the Federal Cartel Office and the Federal Network Agency.

"The difficult thing at the moment is to first clarify the facts," said Mundt with regard to the superstructure. If a company with particularly strong market power then comes into play, an authority must also be able to prove that it has acted abusively. "That's not always so easy."

The blocking towel throw

"Just because someone doesn't like it doesn't mean it's illegal," added Müller. "The question is whether there is an abusive or strategic superstructure." This is not always entirely legally tangible, which is why Mundt believes a change in the law is necessary. "Throwing in the towel and blocking is not what we want."

The federal government and parliament are needed to change the law. In view of the upcoming elections, this is likely to take some time. Until then, Wissing is the minister responsible. He is calling for the "Telecommunications Network Expansion Acceleration Act" , which is currently up in the air, to be passed before the elections. "Germany is on the way to a gigabit society, but we have to stay on the ball," said Wissing. "We cannot afford to delay."

(vbr)