Fiber optic expansion in buildings: "Lawsuits are pre-programmed"

Federal Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger (CDU) wants to accelerate fiber optic expansion; by 2029, three-quarters of all households should have access to fiber optics. To achieve this goal, fiber optic expansion must pick up speed, especially in apartment buildings, and overcome resistance on the final meters.

Fiber optics are already mandatory for major renovations and new buildings. For other households, cabling within the building (network level 4) often proves difficult. “However, we are seeing considerable inertia, particularly in existing buildings,” explained Gertrud Husch, Head of Digital Infrastructures at the Federal Ministry for Digital and State Modernization (BMDS), during the fiber optic summit at Anga Com on Wednesday in Cologne.

According to Husch, the right to full build-out, as provided for in the draft of a new Telecommunications Act (TKG), is intended to bring “significantly stronger commitment” to in-house expansion. If property owners want to equip their properties with fiber optics themselves or with a partner, the draft law provides deadlines within which the expansion must be completed.

Fiber optics against the owner's will?

So far, so good – or so bad, if you ask representatives of the expanding companies. “Lawsuits are pre-programmed,” is certain Bernd Thielk, Managing Director of the Hamburg-based network operator willy.tel. Fiber optic expansion in buildings is primarily determined by the renovation cycle of housing companies. The right to full build-out contradicts this. Soeren Wendler, CEO of the Munich-based network operator M-net, advised against trying to lay fiber optics against the property owner's will at Anga Com.

At the same time, it cannot be in the interest of rapid fiber optic expansion to leave its pace to the housing industry, especially since little has happened so far. According to market analyses by industry associations, less than ten percent of the 30.5 million apartments in multi-family buildings have a fiber optic connection to date.

Industry representatives are also critical of the co-use right envisioned in the TKG draft. This is intended to prevent multiple connections from being installed in parallel in buildings, which would not only be a waste of resources from a macroeconomic perspective but is also not in the interest of the owners.

Gerhard Mack, COO of Deutsche Glasfaser, advocates for a diverse range of services on the networks. “But why does it have to be physical access?” Mack criticized the co-use right in the TKG draft. Primarily one company demands physical access: Deutsche Telekom.

“No real symmetrical regulation”

From the perspective of OXG CEO Sören Trebst, the planned co-use right shifts the risk entirely to the expanding company. He sees refinancing endangered if, after network construction, a third party can access the network under conditions set by the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA). “This symmetrical regulation would mean that we would no longer expand,” Trebst said at Anga Com.

In any case, in his opinion, it is not true symmetrical regulation where all market participants are treated equally. Many service providers and network operators agree on the co-use of fiber optic networks (Open Access). However, one important market participant is missing: Telekom. “It is only symmetrical regulation if the market-dominant company would be obliged to use Open Access,” Trebst said in Cologne.

M-net CEO Wendler, who has reached an agreement with the Bonn-based telecommunications group in Munich, described how many things improve when you get Telekom on your side. “Telekom is migrating its DSL customers to fiber optics.” Wendler gave a positive outlook on how Open Access can increase fiber optic usage.

(mma)