re:publica: "Into the glass" – but not so fast

At re:publica in Berlin, network operators spoke out in favor of a regulated but also swift transition from the copper to the glass age. Because Germany is lagging behind the rest of Europe in the spread of fiber optic connections and the pace of expansion is slow, both the industry and politicians are now called upon to act.

Above all, politicians should ensure fair competitive conditions. "The cities where municipal network operators are at work and where there is competition are best supplied with fibre optics," emphasized Timo von Lepel, CEO of regional network operator NetCologne, at re:publica in Berlin on Tuesday. "This shows that where there is infrastructure competition, the supply is best."

Train station comes to Germany

The new fiber optic networks and open access also create new opportunities for providers who offer their services on the infrastructure of partners without their own network. Take the Swedish company Bahnhof, for example, which is now starting to market its services on the Eurofiber network in Berlin.

"We are now coming to Germany because it is still a relatively small market," said Philipp Riederer, Head of Bahnhof Germany. "Eurofiber will start here in Berlin in September." The fact that Germany performs so poorly in a European comparison is "really embarrassing". "The Swedes have over 87 percent fiber optics."

The Netcologne boss referred to the long-term perspective of investments in networks. "The infrastructure business needs staying power, investments only pay for themselves after around 20 years," said von Lepel. The industry wants to make the necessary investments, but demands fair conditions in return.

"We are competing with a long-depreciated copper network from Telekom, which can operate at completely different costs," emphasized von Lepel. The transition from copper to fibre optic networks should therefore also be organized politically. The responsible Federal Network Agency recently published an impulse paper for this, which is now being discussed with the industry.

The regulatory authority would prefer Deutsche Telekom and its competitors to organize the migration from copper to glass themselves. Industry experts believe this is unlikely to be successful. According to the current status of the Telecommunications Act (TKG), Telekom alone decides when to switch off which areas of its copper network.

No forced shutdown

"We call it copper-to-glass migration," said Susanne Ding. "Some call it a forced shutdown, but that is not the case," emphasized the head of department at the new Federal Ministry for Digital and State Modernization (BMDS). Telekom itself had warned against a "forced provider change" with regard to the gradual shutdown of the copper networks.

However, the government representative also acknowledges that Telekom has "leverage" in the copper-glass migration. "You have to look at how Telekom deals with this," said Ding. In principle, clear rules and reasonable competition are desirable.

In view of the constantly growing demand for bandwidth, industry representatives believe a rapid transition is necessary. "The data volume will continue to explode, that's 30 to 40 percent on top every year," said the Netcologne boss. "We need 100 percent nationwide coverage."

The new German government now wants to help quickly remove the hurdles that still exist. "In Germany, it is more complicated than anywhere else to get fiber optics underground," Ding said, citing one of the problems that the BMDS now wants to tackle. Sven Knapp from the German Broadband Association (Breko) was delighted and encouraged politicians to get started now.

On Wednesday, the Federal Cabinet initiated a measure to legally classify the expansion of telecommunications networks as an "overriding public interest". The federal government hopes that this will speed up the approval process.

However, according to the BMDS representative, the migration to fiber optics will probably not happen so quickly. "We're just not there yet, and we probably won't be there in 2030 either," said Ding. "It will certainly take a little longer in Germany, but we have to realize that it will happen. We want to come out with key points this year, which we can then discuss with everyone."

(vbr)