Dr. Stephan Albers, Managing Director of the German Broadband Association (BREKO), comments on the coalition agreement published today:

“The coalition agreement between the SPD, Greens and FDP sets the right course for the further expansion of fiber optics in Germany. We very much welcome the fact that the new government has finally set a clear fiber optic target (FTTH – fiber to the home). This makes it clear: Gigabit is a thing of the past – from now on, it’s ‘all about glass’. In the coming weeks and months, the good approaches must be filled with life in practical implementation.

The coalition agreement shows that politicians have learned from the mistakes of the past. Instead of propagating unrealistic expansion targets that have to be put into perspective after a short time, the government has recognized that the ‘mega infrastructure project fibre optics’ is not a sprint but a marathon that politicians, companies and local authorities want to successfully complete together as quickly as possible.

The coalition government’s clear commitment to prioritizing self-business expansion over state intervention is a positive signal to all investors and companies investing in fiber optic expansion in Germany. If the new federal government implements this consistently and uses state funding measures in a targeted manner and only where coverage is particularly poor and there is no potential for market-driven expansion in the future, we can accelerate the expansion and connect citizens, schools and companies to the fiber optic network even faster. We support the idea set out in the coalition agreement to identify these areas by means of a ‘potential analysis’ and will make proposals to the federal government for concrete implementation in the short term.

We very much welcome the fact that the ‘fiber optic vouchers’ provided for in the coalition agreement will finally bring the ‘scrapping premium’ for copper connections. If it is implemented as easily as the KfW funding for e-charging stations, this will be an important instrument for even greater use of genuine fiber optic connections right into buildings and homes.

The planned massive acceleration of planning and approval procedures and the increased use of modern installation methods play a central role in fiber optic expansion. In order for the shortening of procedures to succeed in practice, the federal, state and local authorities must pull together and create the necessary technical and personnel resources in the administrations.

It is also positive that the federal government will bundle responsibility for digital issues, including the expansion of fiber optics and mobile communications, centrally in the ‘Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Affairs’. The centralized management of the most important digital topics in one ministry gives hope that digital policy will finally come from a single source.

The intended further tightening of customer protection regulations does not fit into the otherwise positive picture. We do not share the view that, in addition to the significantly stricter regulations already in place from December 1 as a result of the new Telecommunications Act, there is a need for a flat-rate claim for damages without the new provisions being reviewed for their effectiveness.”