In December, the Wissenschaftliches Institut für Infrastruktur und Kommunikationsdienste (WIK) published the study “Leitbild für nachhaltig funktionsfähige Wettbewerb in der Glasfaserwelt”, which is available here.

The study examines how sustainable, functioning competition in the market can look and function in a future “fiber optic world” in which fiber optic connections are available throughout Germany. BREKO will analyze and comment on the study. According to

We have summarized the most important course contents for you below:

Background to the study: Despite progress in the expansion of fiber optics, Germany still has some catching up to do. The federal government’s gigabit strategy focuses on competition for expansion, but lacks a clear model for competition policy.

Objective of the study: Development of a model for sustainable competition in the fiber optic world.

• What is sustainable, functioning competition?
• Competitive functions: Ensuring freedom of action and choice, efficient allocation, dynamic efficiency and prevention of non-performance-related income.
• Sustainability: Competition is sustainable if it is structurally secure, which is more likely to be the case with infrastructure competition than with access-based competition.
• Functionality: Functional competition requires the existence of several competitors, ideally at least three.
• What is the world of fiber optics?
• FTTH networks: The aim is to achieve nationwide availability of fiber optic connections by 2030.
• Copper network: The copper network is an obsolete model and should be switched off in favor of fiber optics.
• Cable networks: Cable networks still offer competitive products today, but are under pressure from the superior performance of FTTH networks.
• A competition policy model for the fiber optic world
• Infrastructure competition: This should be promoted where it can be sustainable in the long term.
• Co-investment models: These models, in which several network operators invest jointly in the expansion, are particularly efficient.
• Access-based competition: Access to fiber-optic local loops and bitstream access are key elements of competition.
• Regulatory and competition policy support
• Evaluation of “fiber optic regulation light”: Review of current regulatory approaches.
• Measures against strategic overbuilding: Introduction of an expansion list for Deutsche Telekom’s FTTH construction projects.
• Enforcement of access to the fiber-optic local loop: Promotion of competition through access to the fiber-optic local loop.
• Regulations on apartment connections: creation of clear access models to the building’s internal infrastructure.
• Concept for copper-glass migration: Development of an overall concept for switching off the copper network.