Regulators: Switch off copper networks at 80 percent FTTH

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The German Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) presented its regulatory concept on Monday for the transition from old copper networks to modern fiber optic infrastructure. Building on the discussion paper published last spring, the regulatory authority wants the draft to be understood as a recommendation on how the migration process can be designed. The legislator is also called upon.

Switch off at 80 percent FTTH

In its regulatory concept, the regulatory authority advocates for a “rule-based procedure” in which the shutdown of a specific connection area can be initiated when certain prerequisites are met: These are essentially a connection rate of 80 percent of households in the affected area and “suitable wholesale products.”

For the connection rate, the Bundesnetzagentur uses the number of actually connected households. For single-family homes, this is at least one handover point in the basement. For apartment buildings, it is a connection in the apartment (FTTH).

At the same time, the fiber optic network operator must offer sufficient wholesale services so that competitors can also supply their customers on the new infrastructure (also referred to as “Open Access”). How exactly these wholesale services will look is not yet clear and is currently still the subject of discussions with the industry. However, it is likely to result in similarly standardized access as with DSL.

Three years' notice

For the migration, the Bundesnetzagentur, like the Digital Ministry, proposes a transition period of three years. From the point at which the prerequisites are met, the shutdown of a connection area can be initiated. Shutdown plans should then be announced at least three years in advance. Two years before the planned date, no more DSL products may be offered in the area.

The Bundesnetzagentur wants the migration areas to “generally be based on the copper network structure” – meaning, for example, on existing distribution boxes – but also, where possible, on the boundaries of city districts or municipalities.

To ensure this is not a piecemeal effort, the Bundesnetzagentur is calling for something like a comprehensive overview. An “overarching migration plan for the entire Federal Republic” would have to include at least the date of the first shutdown, further milestones, and the planned completion date. According to current estimates, the shutdown will begin no earlier than 2030 and could take ten years.

No plan yet

For this, Telekom would have to reveal its plans. However, the Bonn-based company is currently making no move to publicly discuss its shutdown plans, and Telekom is not obligated to do so. The “overarching migration plan” is therefore just one of the points where the regulatory authority's proposal goes beyond the current legal situation.

Instead, Telekom is raising its defenses and invoking the narrative of “forced provider change” that it has already established. It is not coercion, but competition for the customer that is decisive, a Telekom spokesperson told dpa. The concept paper will now be thoroughly examined.

Telekom is demanding, among other things, that coaxial TV cables also be included in the migration plans. However, the paper from the Bundesnetzagentur explicitly does not provide for this. However, cable networks could play a role in the migration as an indicator of infrastructure competition and regulatory needs.

If a fiber optic operator takes over alone in a connection area and there is no cable network there, “no infrastructure-based competition will develop,” the Bundesnetzagentur paper states. This is likely to be the case primarily in more rural areas where a second network is not economically viable.

“Competition is indispensable”

“In these constellations, service competition on the fiber optic network is indispensable,” emphasizes the Bundesnetzagentur. For the operators of these networks, this likely means: Despite all lip service to “Open Access,” they will have to prepare for the regulator to create clear conditions for everyone here.

The transition from copper to fiber is one of the most important and, at the same time, most controversial infrastructure projects of recent decades. If the politically desired goal of nationwide fiber optic connections is to be achieved, the industry must continue to invest heavily in expansion.

At the same time, politics must set the framework conditions because the proposals of the Bundesnetzagentur, as well as the key points from the Digital Ministry available since October 2025, go beyond the current legal situation in some areas. This necessitates changes to the Telecommunications Act (TKG), for example, regarding the current regulation for the shutdown of a copper access network.

Change laws

Under the current legal situation, Telekom has control over the shutdown of copper networks. The TKG gives it the sole right to apply for the shutdown of a connection area and thus pave the way for migration to fiber optics. Competitors fear that Telekom will use this power strategically and are therefore demanding a right to apply for all.

The Monopolkommission also warned that Telekom could partially transfer its old monopoly to fiber optic infrastructure if the regulator does not act decisively. However, there is no sign of decisive action so far.

The Bundesnetzagentur explicitly wants its concept to be understood as a contribution to the debate and not as a regulatory measure. Such a measure would be premature considering the political environment: the Digital Ministry has developed its own key points and is preparing corresponding legislative changes. The EU could also still influence the process with the Digital Networks Act, the draft of which it intends to present this week.

(vbr)