Leipzig, 18.09.2023 On Wednesday in Leipzig, the Saxony Fiber Optic Forum brought together all relevant players in the expansion of fiber optics in the Free State for the first time. At the joint event organized by the German Broadband Communications Association (BREKO) and Leipziger Messe as part of the netze:ON trade fair, more than 70 participants from the telecommunications industry, federal, state and local politics discussed how competition in the fibre optic market can be sensibly shaped, what is needed to ensure that gigabit funding complements the rollout on a commercial basis and where companies, municipalities, districts and the state can improve their exchange with each other in order to make fibre optics available nationwide by 2030.

After a welcome address by Oliver Ulke, Deputy Head of State Policy at BREKO, and Markus Geisenberger, Managing Director of Leipziger Messe, BREKO Managing Director Dr. Stephan Albers presented the BREKO Market Analysis 2023, which was published at the end of August: “Fiber optic expansion is now really picking up speed. Things are also progressing well in Saxony.” However, he also pointed out the ambitious goals of federal and state policy: “We have to be ready by 2030.” Challenges such as the still sluggish granting of necessary permits, the continued lack of acceptance of modern installation methods, an acute shortage of skilled workers and, above all, the increasing number of reported cases of double expansion by Telekom are still standing in the way of achieving this goal.

Ines Fröhlich, State Secretary at the Saxon State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labor and Transport, was also pleased with the significant progress made in fiber optic expansion. With 44 percent fiber optic availability, Saxony is above the national average of 35.6 percent and thus in the upper midfield. But “that’s not enough for me, I think it’s not enough for all of us,” said the State Secretary, referring to the high relevance of nationwide fibre optic coverage for the Free State: “The expansion of fibre optics is not just an improvement in data transmission through a change in technology, but the basis for digitization and thus for an attractive location. (…) We need the digital transformation.” However, there is a “very good, close exchange” between the players in the fiber optic expansion.

Moderated by Sven Knapp, Head of the BREKO Capital Office, Sven Butler, Head of the Federal Gigabit Office, Stephan Drescher, Managing Director of envia TEL, Thomas Eibeck, Managing Director of SachsenGigaBit, Frauke Greven, Head of the Digital Agency Saxony and

Udo Harbers, Saxony State Policy Representative at Deutsche Telekom, discussed the challenges of public funding in Saxony’s fiber optic expansion as well as the current hot topic in the industry, the announced and actual double expansion by Deutsche Telekom. In order to keep the rather limited number of dual expansion conflicts in Saxony to a minimum, the representatives of the network operators based in the Free State wanted Telekom to be more open to open access cooperations for the use of its fiber optic networks.

Fittingly, Yannick von Witzenhausen, Sales Manager at vitroconnect, the sponsor of the event, offered to act as an Open Access mediator: “The success of fiber optic expansion in Germany depends more than ever on Open Access cooperation, as many customers are increasing the utilization rates on the fiber optic networks that have been built. With this in mind, we are delighted to be taking part in the first Saxony Fiber Optic Forum as a sponsor. As an expert in telecommunications processes, vitroconnect simplifies the variety of interfaces and ensures interoperability with its open access platform “CAP”. In addition, vitroconnect bundles supply and demand in the trading model so that smaller infrastructures in particular can gain access to the market.”

Sylvio Krause, mayor of the small municipality of Amtsberg in the Erzgebirgskreis district, gave an impressive account of the difficulties of gigabit funding. The administrative burden of the program is “actually not feasible” for small municipalities. The double expansion in subsidized areas also causes immense costs and a great deal of additional administrative work. For example, a funding project in the city of Zwickau would cost 50-60 million euros because 1,200 addresses would be “overbuilt” there. The new potential analysis introduced in “Gigabit Funding 2.0”, which provides information on economically viable fibre optic expansion areas, offers the opportunity to make a clearer distinction between eligibility for funding and the need for funding, to save tax revenue and to prevent a later self-economic expansion from taking place in funded areas, concluded moderator Oliver Ulke.

The event was crowned by a real example of best practice: Mattias Borm, broadband coordinator for Central Saxony, and Uwe Rettner from Deutsche Glasfaser gave a very clear demonstration of how they are reconciling gigabit funding and self-business fiber optic expansion in Central Saxony.