Fiber optic expansion: Ministry sees "noticeable progress"

By the end of 2025, almost 50 percent of households could have had access to a fiber optic connection to the building (FTTB) or to the apartment (FTTH) for the first time – or the option to have it “established at short notice.” The Ministry of Digital Affairs announced this on Thursday morning. It refers to the current figures from the broadband atlas portal. Between mid-2025 and the end of 2026, which is roughly the period since the Ministry of Digital Affairs has existed, this is an increase of six percentage points.

“The fiber optic expansion is gaining momentum,” says Federal Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger (CDU). And announces his intention to further accelerate the expansion through regulatory frameworks. “The next steps are the amendment of the Telecommunications Act and a joint declaration of intent with companies, states, and municipalities to set further important impulses for the nationwide expansion with future-proof fiber optic networks.”

FTTB with the biggest jump

The measurement for FTTB showed the biggest jump: from 11.43 percent in June 2025 to 20.24 percent, the number of private households for which fiber optics at least reach the building as a connection increased. However, this is not identical for apartment buildings with a directly usable fiber optic connection: there, the fiber optic cable must first be laid to the actual user. Only then is it considered a real bookable FTTH and thus actually usable – for FTTH itself, providers have reported an availability of just over 40 percent to the responsible Federal Network Agency for the broadband atlas. Thus, one in five fiber optic bundles still ended at the building at the turn of the year, not usable – and these connections are still not booked by customers.

The current figures are likely to be primarily due to the change in strategy by companies, which are now focusing more on actual customer acquisition rather than area development, and the regulatory framework conditions that were changed under the previous government. Individual federal states such as Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, and Bremen are particularly advanced in their expansion efforts, especially the populous southern states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, as well as Saxony, and the less densely populated FTTB/FTTH laggard Thuringia with only 25 percent at the end of 2025, are significantly lowering the average.

Schools not all connected to high-speed network yet

Schools in Baden-Württemberg (56.3% FTTB/H) and Hamburg (55.78%) continue to lag in fiber optic supply. The leaders are Saxony-Anhalt, where 19 out of 20 schools should have fiber optics to the building by the end of 2025, and Saarland, which had less than a tenth of its schools not yet connected to the internet via fiber optics.

What the current figures also show: By the end of 2026, there should still be gigabit connectivity available for almost 62 percent of private households via fiber optic and coaxial cable. Unlike with the slowly phasing-out VDSL, there is hardly any movement here. The good 891,000 kilometers of laid fiber optic cable and almost 96,000 radio masts are contrasted by 3.4 million wooden masts in Germany, which are considered rather unsuitable for fiber optic expansion in this country. In the coming weeks, the Federal Ministry of Digital Affairs intends to present its plan for changes to the Telecommunications Act, which are intended to further accelerate fiber optic expansion.

(mho)