Fiber Optic Dilemma: Germany Lags Behind European Leaders

Germany is making progress as an "advanced broadband nation" in fiber optic expansion. At the same time, there is still a high need for renewal in the Federal Republic to replace old copper lines to achieve the ambitious expansion plans of the federal government and the EU with nationwide gigabit supply by 2030. This is according to the current Fiber Development Index 2025 (FDI) from the World Broadband Association (WBBA), which sheds light on global fiber optic expansion.

With the report, which can be downloaded by providing personal data, the WBBA, in cooperation with the technology consulting firm Omdia, evaluates investments in optical networks based on thirteen key figures. The analysis goes beyond mere availability and also considers aspects such as fiber optic connections for businesses, direct fiber-to-the-building (FTTB) or fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) connections, and the penetration of mobile phone towers with fiber optics. Experts also consider the use of advanced light wave technology – known as Wavelength-Division Multiplexing (WDM) – in the core network. The goal is to provide politicians and the industry with a well-founded basis for decisions on the further development of fiber optic infrastructure.

Germany's Challenge: Hesitant Expansion

Globally, Singapore leads the index again this year, confirming its top position as an "advanced fiber nation," followed by the United Arab Emirates and South Korea. In Europe, there is a significant gap: Romania surprisingly ranks sixth as the best European country, followed by Western European countries such as France, Denmark, and Norway in the top 10.

In contrast, Germany is not among the top performers, neither globally nor in Europe. The WBBA classifies the federal government in a middle cluster. Countries classified there have well-developed broadband networks but have historically invested heavily in older technologies such as conventional copper or cable networks. As a result, they are only hesitantly expanding pure fiber optic infrastructure. Compared to other Western countries that are already in the leading categories or, like the USA, have made a big leap forward, Germany is lagging behind in the transition to pure fiber optic networks.

This classification is reflected in the expansion figures, which reveal a significant discrepancy with national goals. Germany had set the goal of covering half of all households with FTTH or FTTB by the end of 2025. However, according to the FDI, the actual rate in mid-2024 was only 36.8 percent, which jeopardizes the planned nationwide coverage in the remaining time. The dependence on outdated broadband technologies, which is only slowly being addressed through pilot projects for switching off DSL networks, highlights the need for an accelerated fiber optic strategy. Current figures from the industry association Breko show: More than half of all units are already within fiber optic reach – but only a fraction can be connected.

Future-Proof Networks and the Digital Divide

The authors emphasize that investments in future-proof fiber optic networks are crucial, as bandwidth demand is growing explosively. By 2030, the average number of connected devices per household will increase from 14 in 2020 to almost 55. Applications such as cloud storage, virtual reality, and AI services require bandwidths that exceed even the performance of older fiber optic networks. To guarantee consistently high user satisfaction and symmetrical gigabit connections with equal upload and download speeds, an upgrade to more modern technologies such as XGS-PON (10 Gbit/s symmetrical) is indispensable.

The FDI also reveals a growing digital divide that no longer concerns only basic supply but access to high-quality, gigabit-capable fixed-network services. Countries that rely on older technologies risk leaving their citizens behind in this deepening new digital divide. The authors therefore urge telecommunications operators to invest in an end-to-end infrastructure to consistently deliver the promised bandwidths. Currently, there is a large discrepancy worldwide between booked and actually usable speeds.

(nie)