Bonn, 25.09.2024 – According to the latest market analysis by the German Broadband Association (BREKO), no other federal state has caught up as much as Brandenburg when it comes to connecting buildings to the fiber optic network. BREKO provides the figures and explains the background.

Nowhere has the proportion of households supplied with fiber optic connections grown as quickly as in Brandenburg in the last year: the fiber optic connection rate – the proportion of households, companies and public authorities supplied with fiber optic – rose from 35% to 43% in the period from June 2023 to June 2024. A whopping increase of eight percentage points. Brandenburg thus wins the state comparison in terms of expansion speed.

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.

Oliver Ulke, Deputy Head of State Policy at BREKO: “Brandenburg is well positioned in terms of fiber optics. In recent years, the companies involved in the expansion of fiber optics have made significant progress in providing this future-proof digital infrastructure. However, the state government has also made its contribution to advancing both the purely privately financed and publicly funded fiber optic expansion. Exchange formats such as the ministerial conference on the “@GigabitBB30″ strategy have brought industry, politics and administration even closer together regionally.”

Brandenburg is also doing very well compared to the rest of Germany when it comes to expansion in the area: the fiber optic expansion rate is currently 59%, well above the national average of 43%. This rate describes the proportion of households, companies and public institutions that have a fiber optic line at least in the street. This means that they could be connected with little effort if required. Only Schleswig-Holstein (89%) and Hamburg (83%) are even better connected. However, this figure has only increased by five percentage points in Brandenburg in the last year – the third weakest performance in a state comparison.

Ulke: “The fact that fiber optic expansion is slowing down in the area and is increasingly focusing on house connections – even more so in Brandenburg than in the federal government as a whole – shows a certain uncertainty in the market. In view of the complicated coalition negotiations, it is now all the more important to place the future topic of fiber optic expansion high on the agenda of the next state government. After all, there is still a long way to go before fiber optic coverage is available throughout Brandenburg. On this path, the companies expanding the network need a stable political framework that they can rely on. Specifically, the political guard rails for self-business expansion must be improved and planning security for local authorities and companies expanding fiber optics must be increased. Brandenburg needs a long-term concept for needs-based co-financing of the federal government’s gigabit funding. In addition, the measures defined in the state’s gigabit strategy must be consistently driven forward – above all the digitalization of approval procedures through the nationwide implementation of the OZG broadband portal.”

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