Digital ministers propose a federal digital ministry at Fiberdays 25

The digital ministers of the federal states want to pave the way for an independent federal digital ministry. "We want to see the topic of digitalization bundled and coordinated at federal level in the same way as we have in Hesse with its own digital ministry", explained Hessian Digital Minister Kristina Sinemus at the start of Fiberdays 25 in Frankfurt am Main on Wednesday. Last Friday, the digital ministers of the federal states adopted a joint paper on the subject.

The establishment of a federal digital ministry is a key demand of the German Broadband Communications Association (BREKO), the head of which also mentioned other points for accelerated fiber optic expansion at the digital and fiber optic trade fair. BREKO also organizes the Fiberdays 25.

After all, according to current BREKO market data, the number of German "homes passed", i.e. households with a fiber optic line running along them, had risen to 48.8 percent (22.5 million households) by the end of 2024. The milestone of supplying half of all households with fiber optics by the end of 2025 is therefore within reach.

Nevertheless, no one in the industry doubts that the actual goal of nationwide fiber optic coverage by 2030 will be missed, as only around half of the 22.5 million homes passed have fiber optics reaching the building ("Homes Connected"). Of these, only 5.9 million households surf the internet via their fiber optic connection ("Homes Activated").

State guarantees for fiber optic loans

In order to turn the HomesPassed into at least Homes Connected on the one hand, and to open up the half of the country that is still without fiber optics on the other, BREKO is calling for investment and competition-friendly framework conditions from politicians. According to BREKO Managing Director Stephan Albers, it is "of crucial importance" for the further expansion of fiber optics that the new German government commits to a strategy for copper-glass migration. "This absolutely must be included in the coalition agreement," demanded Albers at Fiberdays. However, he would prefer to see an infrastructure upgrade.

A strategy or concept for this upgrade would also be an important signal to equity investors to continue investing in the expansion of fiber optics in Germany. "150 billion euros are still missing for further growth," said Jan Georg Budden, co-founder and CEO of Deutsche GigaNetz, at Fiberdays 25. BREKO President Norbert Westfal also referred to other sectors of the economy where bank loans are secured by state guarantees. This would provide planning security for expanding companies.

Less subsidy, more consumer friendliness

What BREKO advises the new federal government against, however, is an increase in subsidies. There is currently talk of a sum of 3.5 billion euros that the federal government wants to invest annually in fiber optic expansion. "One billion euros in federal funds is enough," said BREKO President Westfal, especially as these funds will be supplemented by the federal states. "We can't spend the money so quickly", said Westfal, also citing excessive bureaucracy. "We need to move away from approval procedures and towards notification procedures in order to speed up the expansion of fiber optics."

In addition to all these demands, Westfal and Albers also pointed out that companies need to do their homework. "A take-up rate of 33 percent is not enough", explained Albers in Frankfurt am Main. This means that only one in three households with a fiber optic connection actually uses it. The expanding companies must become more consumer-friendly, activate fiber optic connections more quickly and offer a clear and simple choice of tariffs. "We are selling the digital future," said Albers. Accordingly, the BREKO leadership welcomed the planned federal image campaign for fiber optic connections at Fiberdays 25.

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