Fiber optic rollout: More speed with TKG amendment

With some amendments to the Telecommunications Act (Telekommunikationsgesetz, TKG), the federal government aims to accelerate the fiber optic rollout. The Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV) presented its draft for the “TKG Amendment Act 2026” on Monday. Among other things, the law creates a so-called full rollout right for connecting multiple households in buildings.

This would grant a network operator the right to lay a connection to all apartments in a multi-family house if they connect the entire building. The BMDV also wants to facilitate access to existing infrastructure within the building with the new legislation.

Migration plan for copper shutdown

Further amendments to the TKG are also intended to accelerate the planned shutdown of Deutsche Telekom's copper network connections and the migration to fiber optics. Previously, the decision on this lay solely with the former monopolist. The amendment aims to oblige Telekom to make its plans transparent and to present a migration plan.

With the draft law, the Digital Ministry is further pursuing the path towards symmetrical regulation: The Federal Network Agency will be able to impose access obligations on network operators in the future, regardless of market power – for example, where a network operator is already active and a second infrastructure is not economically viable. The Federal Network Agency will be given a tool to enforce open access.

The proposed regulations were already outlined by Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger (CDU) in the summer of 2025 in a key points paper. “With targeted measures, we want to contribute to additional momentum in the comprehensive rollout of fiber optic and mobile networks,” says Wildberger. “Less bureaucracy, efficient processes, and more speed are the decisive levers for this.”

The right to full rollout is controversial. It is an encroachment on the property of real estate owners and is intended to be enforceable even against the will of tenants. The coordination between network operators, landlords, and tenants has made the rollout within the building (so-called network level 4) quite complex so far. On the other hand, landlords have so far had little reason to promote or tolerate such a project. The housing industry accordingly sharply criticizes the plan.

Industry criticizes regulation plans

The Broadband Association Anga, which includes cable network operators, is unhappy with the requirements for co-using existing infrastructure within the building. As expected, the expansion of the Federal Network Agency's powers is also controversial. “Anyone who unnecessarily expands symmetrical regulation is playing with investors' trust and risks fiber optic projects being shelved,” says Anga President Thomas Braun.

The German Broadband Communications Association (Bundesverband Breitbandkommunikation, Breko) welcomes Wildberger's plan to facilitate the rollout but also rejects the expansion of regulation. “This proposal misunderstands reality,” says Sven Knapp, head of the Breko Berlin office. “Open access fails today not due to the offer, but solely due to Telekom's refusal.” Breko is also critical of the regulated access to building infrastructure.

“The Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs clearly wants to advance digitalization with this amendment,” praises Valentina Daiber, President of the Association of Telecommunications Market Participants (Verband der Anbieter von Telekommunikations- und Mehrwertdienste, VATM). “The fact that the Federal Network Agency can demand a transparent migration path from the market-dominant company in the future is real progress.” VATM also sees the planned full rollout as an opportunity.

However, VATM criticizes the planned expansion of symmetrical regulation as “hardly appropriate.” “Here, the draft has gone too far,” says VATM Managing Director Frederic Ufer. Instead, regulation must be based on actual market power, and “consistent abuse supervision” must strengthen the position of competitors.

(vbr)