In an answer published today by the Federal Government (19/32558) to a minor interpellation by the FDP parliamentary group, the Federal Government provides information on the status of the federal broadband funding program. Since the end of 2015, the federal government has made a total of twelve billion euros available for subsidized broadband expansion. By the end of September 2021, 1.5 billion euros of this had been disbursed. According to the federal government, around 714,000 subsidized connections have been realized, i.e. a total of around 25 percent of the planned 2.7 million connections.

The Managing Director of the German Broadband Association (BREKO), Dr. Stephan Albers, explains:

“The figures published today by the federal government on the federal broadband funding program, which has been running since October 2015, underline that the next federal government should make a fundamental change to the funding policy for fibre optic expansion.

The outgoing German government is providing funding for the expansion of digital infrastructure according to the principle of ‘a lot helps a lot’. In practice, however, this does not lead to an acceleration in the pace of expansion, as the figures published today make clear. On the contrary, expansion projects planned for the private sector and subsidized projects are competing for the scarce civil engineering and planning capacities on the market.

Six years ago, there was an intense debate about how the expansion of fiber optics in Germany could be financed and which companies would build the networks. The answer was a state funding program worth billions of euros. The need for this funding has been put into perspective by the new situation regarding fiber optic expansion. The most important key figures are now green: demand for fiber optic connections has increased significantly, companies’ business models are working and companies and investors are prepared to invest a great deal of capital. For the next five years alone, at least 43 billion euros are available for the roll-out of fiber optic networks. The expansion of fiber optics in Germany will therefore not fail due to a lack of funds.

The next German government should definitely take these changed conditions into account in its strategy for the further expansion of digital infrastructure. In concrete terms, this means that instead of relying on the most extensive funding possible for the funding program, state funding must be used much more specifically than in the past in areas where there is no potential to connect citizens and companies to the fibre optic network. When it comes to the question of how much funding is made available each year in addition to the self-business expansion, the expansion progress of the funded projects currently being implemented must be included as an important criterion. Only with a smart expansion strategy with clear priority for the significantly faster self-financed expansion, flanked by tailored and supplementary funding, will we be able to further increase the pace of fiber optic expansion.”

About the BREKO

As the leading fiber optic association with more than 390 member companies, the Bundesverband Breitbandkommunikation e.V. (BREKO) successfully promotes competition in the German telecommunications market. Its members are clearly committed to future-proof fiber optics and are currently responsible for 80 percent of the competitive expansion of fiber optic connections to buildings and homes. The more than 220 telecommunications network operators organized in the association supply both metropolitan areas and rural areas with future-proof fibre optic connections. They invested 2.9 billion euros in 2020 and generated a turnover of 5 billion euros. Further information can be found at brekoverband.de.