Tele Columbus: It's time to herald the end of DSL

The switch from the old copper infrastructure to a modern fiber optic infrastructure for super-fast Internet continues to stir up controversy. Tele Columbus, the Berlin-based group behind the provider brand Pÿur, is now accusing Deutsche Telekom of wanting to stifle the debate about switching off DSL in the near future. The Magenta group is thinking of continuing to use the traditional technology, even though there is not much more to be gained from it after the use of the VDSL turbo vectoring, complains the competitor, which has grown up with cable networks. "It is a clinging to the old world and, of course, an attempt to defend its own market position."

The criticism was prompted by a recent Telekom blog post. It states that millions of households in Germany still use the top dog's DSL network for telephony and Internet. Anyone who now says that the copper network is on the brink of collapse is spreading "fake news" and unsettling consumers. This is because Deutsche Telekom has not set a regional or nationwide DSL switch-off date. If the customer has the choice, the fast switchover "to our fiber optics" is recommended. The new technology offers many advantages. But ultimately, the consumer will decide. First of all, more than half of the households still need to be supplied with the high-performance and climate-friendly optical lines.

Tele Columbus, on the other hand, advocates a fixed "DSL switchover date" in a separate blog entry. Such a deadline would help all parties involved to migrate to the new infrastructure "with sufficient planning time" and to make the necessary preparations. It does not make sense to operate parallel infrastructures forever. Only a DSL switch-off date would ensure "that gigabit infrastructures with fiber optics are made available to buildings and homes at an early stage".

Holistic concept required for DSL upgrade

According to the replica, the newer technology represents a cost and performance advantage for consumers. "Millions of households have had a DSL connection for many years and do not benefit from current market prices," Tele Columbus points out. "Even if you have the best possible DSL tariff, you are giving away several hundred euros a year despite lower Internet bandwidths." With fiber optics, four or five times the speed of a DSL connection can be used – and with financial savings.

Market researchers have worked out that there is no economic interest for Telekom to switch off its DSL network in the fiber optic expansion area of a competitor and thus refer users to the faster optical infrastructure. Only if DSL utilization fell below 20 percent would Telekom's own fiber optic networks represent an economic alternative. Without a clear switchover date, millions of households would not benefit from high bandwidths for a long time.

"Germany needs a holistic concept for a competition-neutral and consumer-friendly upgrade from DSL to fiber optics", demands Tele Columbus, which is in line with industry associations. This is "essential for rapid nationwide fiber optic expansion" and at the same time a "booster for infrastructure investments and provider selection for consumers". This would require an amendment to Section 34 of the German Telecommunications Act (TKG) to ensure fair competition.

Regulator only wants to provide impetus

According to the clause, a company with significant market power such as Telekom must notify the Federal Network Agency at least one year in advance if it plans to decommission parts of its telecommunications network. Or replace it with new infrastructure. A timetable and a description of an offer of alternative access products are also required.

The regulatory authority recently put the brakes on competitors' expectations: "We cannot switch off the copper networks in the short term." It published an impulse paper with which it intends to shape the debate constructively in the industry. This is primarily about consensus and cooperation between the market participants, which, according to the current "blogger war", is not on the horizon. Achim Wambach, President of the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), recently considered a "non-discriminatory and customer-centric" copper-glass migration, including a fixed, realistic switch-off date, to be essential.

The EU Commission has proposed a switchover by 2030, but the member states, regulators and Wambach believe this is too ambitious. There is no pressure from Brussels, Telekom emphasizes. The Commission has only presented a discussion paper. The Federal Network Agency has not set any fixed dates either. For good reason, as the transition must take place "in an orderly manner" and "with foresight" in the interests of consumers.

(nen)