Fiber optics: Here's what competitors must pay for Telekom's empty conduits
Telekom must make empty conduits available to competitors for fiber optic connections. The prices have now been set - lower than the Group demanded.
(Image: SHARKstock/Shutterstock.com)
On Friday, the Federal Network Agency published the fees for the shared use of empty ducts and other Telekom construction facilities by competitors. This concerns the rental prices that competitors have to pay if they use cable ducts and above-ground carrier systems of the Magenta Group between the distribution box and individual houses. With its final decision, the regulatory authority has largely stuck to the specifications from its draft from April, with which it wanted to significantly reduce some of the fees introduced by Telekom last year. However, a few items have now become somewhat more expensive for competitors.
For the use of ducts in the main distribution network, the Federal Network Agency is now charging between 5 and 37 cents net per meter per month, depending on the cross-section; previously up to 36 cents had been planned. In the distribution network from the cable junction (KVz) - the gray box at the side of the road – a flat rate of between EUR 12.72 and EUR 64.48 net per month is now charged, depending on the size of the pipes, compared to between EUR 12.39 and EUR 63.99 originally planned. The most expensive items remain at the 498.58 euros net from the draft. This is the price for the "provision of the above-ground line for the first mast field". Telekom can charge EUR 344.37 for the installation and removal of the customer cable for maintenance/interference suppression. The permit has been valid retroactively since the beginning of 2024.
Moon or ridiculous prices?
Major competitors such as Vodafone had spoken of "moon prices" considering Telekom's demands. Telekom countered that its competitors wanted to push their fiber optics into its pipes at ridicule prices. The President of the Federal Network Agency now emphasized: "With this decision, we are creating a fair balance of interests that ensures investment incentives for a rapid nationwide fiber optic expansion for of all citizens." He also sees this as "a positive signal for other investing companies in Germany". In principle, the Network Agency already obliged Telekom to open up its empty ducts to competitors for fiber optic connections in mid-2022. In doing so, it is invoking the right to open networkaccess enshrined in the German Telecommunications Act (TKG).
In its statement on the draft decision, the EU Commission criticized the fact that the fee approval was not purely based on Telekom's costs. However, the German legislators had decided to provide incentives for investments that go beyond this in the interests of promoting the expansion of fiber optics, the Network Agency countered. Surcharges on costs are only justified for infrastructure in which Telekom itself invests money for superfast lines "to a particular extent". This is the case in the distribution network from the central office to the customer. Telekom is currently only just expanding fiber optics here.
The price table is initially limited to the short period of two years. The regulator justifies this by stating that it is not yet possible to make a valid estimate of the demand for empty ducts and that it is necessary to keep an eye on developments. The competitors' association VATM had welcomed the draft in principle.
(dahe)
