Digital Minister Makes Network Expansion a "Top Priority"

Federal Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger (CDU) is making network expansion a "top priority" and wants to accelerate it in coordination with the stakeholders involved. Representatives from companies, federal states, and municipalities, as well as the Federal Network Agency, agreed on a roadmap at a meeting with the minister on Tuesday. This is to culminate in a joint declaration of intent for infrastructure expansion in the first quarter of 2019. 2026.

"We have already significantly accelerated network expansion with the amendment to the Telecommunications Act and targeted funding programs. And we now want to really step up the pace," explains Wildberger. "To this end, we are bringing all players to the table and initiating continuous exchange with binding goals. I will personally ensure that expansion remains a top priority and that we make great leaps forward together."

Regular Meetings

The meetings with all participants are now to take place regularly and culminate in a joint declaration of intent that, according to the BMDS, sets "specifically measurable goals" for infrastructure expansion. However, the Federal Association for Broadband Communication (Breko) sees no urgent need for "additional, complex monitoring of expansion progress" and refers to its annual market analysis, which already provides "reliable figures for fiber optic expansion."

At the meeting on Tuesday at the Federal Ministry for Digital and State Modernization (BMDS), the discussion, according to reports, focused on, among other things, the currently most contentious issue in the industry: the migration of copper access networks to fiber optics. The planned declaration of intent should therefore also "primarily deal with the regulated transition from DSL to fiber optic networks," demands Breko Vice President Karsten Kluge.

For the Association of Providers in the Digital and Telecommunications Market (VATM), the copper-to-fiber migration is also the "litmus test" for the new Digital Ministry and the regulatory authority Federal Network Agency. The VATM calls for a clear commitment to competition. "More performance, more products, and more providers competing for customers," states VATM Vice President Wolfram Rinner as the motto. "The ministry has fortunately dealt very intensively with the importance of competition and non-discriminatory copper-to-fiber migration. This must be effectively utilized."

"Important Step"

In principle, industry representatives welcome Wildberger's initiative. This is "an important step to unite state, economy, and municipalities," says Frank Rosenberger, CEO of 1&1 Versatel. Obstacles to expansion and competition must be consistently removed. "The Federal Network Agency must actively protect competition so that Germany gets a truly future-proof fiber optic network, as this is the basis for security and digitalization in all economic and private sectors."

Breko Vice President Kluge praises the minister's drive. "The fact that he is bringing all players from federal, state, municipal, regulatory, and economic sectors involved in fiber optic and mobile network expansion to one table to agree on targeted measures to strengthen network expansion shows that he has recognized the urgency of the situation."

The VATM sees this initiative as an opportunity to make up for lost ground. "We have lost important years in fiber optic expansion due to dysfunctional broadband funding, insufficient regulation, and friction losses at the federal levels," says Rinner. "Now, all players must finally pull together to catch up on the backlog in digitalization."

(vbr)