According to the latest market analysis by the German Broadband Association (BREKO), Baden-Württemberg is lagging far behind in the expansion of its digital infrastructure. BREKO provides the figures and explains the background.

Only Berlin is just as bad: with a fiber optic expansion rate of 29%, Baden-Württemberg shares last place with the capital as of mid-2024 – and is therefore well below the national average of 43%. Despite an increase of 6 percentage points compared to the same period last year, the proportion of fiber optic connections compared to the number of households, companies and public institutions is nowhere as low as in the “Ländle”.

In terms of the proportion of households actually connected – the fiber optic connection rate – Baden-Württemberg even brings up the rear with 13% (national average: 23%). These are the results of the BREKO Market Analysis 2024, which is based on data from all relevant companies involved in fiber optic expansion in Germany. It is therefore representative of the German telecommunications market.

Jan Simons, Head of State Policy at BREKO: “There is still a lot of room for improvement in the expansion of fiber optics in Baden-Württemberg. The proportion of citizens who can use a fast and reliable fiber optic connection has been alarmingly low for years. Even though fiber optic expansion is challenging in many parts of Baden-Württemberg due to the topography and population structure, the state government has neglected the issue for too long and relied too much on subsidized expansion projects.”

No other federal state is requesting so much funding for fiber optic expansion: at EUR 3.4 billion, almost 16 times more funding has been requested for 2024 than is planned for Baden-Württemberg according to the federal government’s gigabit funding.

Simons: “Gigabit funding is important in regions where self-sufficient expansion is not possible. However, the approach of wanting to promote as much as possible is counterproductive for the speed of expansion, as the subsidized expansion takes significantly longer – often up to seven years. It would make more sense to improve the framework conditions for significantly faster, self-built fiber optic expansion, for example by speeding up the approval process. As BREKO, we want to support Baden-Württemberg in catching up in terms of fiber optic expansion. The potential for this is definitely there.”

All figures, data and infographics for the BREKO Market Analysis 2024 can be found here.

The HTI Tenth Broadband Day in Ulm tomorrow, Thursday, September 19, will also focus on the status of fiber optic expansion in Germany.