According to the latest market analysis by the German Broadband Association (BREKO), Bremen and Lower Saxony have made significant progress in expanding their digital infrastructure. On the occasion of the Lower Saxony-Bremen Broadband Summit this Monday, BREKO provides the figures and explains the background.

More high-speed in the Hanseatic city: no federal state has recently caught up more than Bremen in terms of fiber optic expansion. As of mid-2024, the fiber optic expansion rate – the proportion of households, companies and public institutions with a fiber optic line at least in the street – is 56%. This corresponds to an increase of 26 percentage points compared to the same period last year and is well above the national average of 43%.

Bremen has also made more progress than most other federal states in terms of the proportion of households actually connected – the fiber optic connection rate – with an increase of 6 percentage points. However, with a total of 17%, the Hanseatic city is now in third-last place in the state comparison. 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: “The number of fiber optic connections in Bremen has almost tripled in the last two years. The Bremen Senate has recognized that an efficient digital infrastructure is a considerable locational advantage and has paved the way towards nationwide fibre optic expansion through targeted cooperation with the private sector. The task now is to convince the people of Bremen of the benefits of fiber optic technology and increase the number of households connected.”

In Bremen’s neighboring state of Lower Saxony, the expansion of fiber optics is also progressing. With a fiber optic roll-out rate of 48%, Lower Saxony is in the middle of the nationwide field, but has achieved one of the strongest increases with a plus of 10 percentage points. The fiber optic connection rate is currently 21% (up 4 percentage points, national average: 23%).

Simons: “The state government of Lower Saxony declared fiber optic expansion a top priority early on and set itself ambitious goals. In doing so, Lower Saxony is rightly focusing predominantly on fast, private-sector expansion.”

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