Federal Minister Wissing and Hesse’s Digital Minister Sinemus open leading trade fair for fiber optic expansion
Wissing announces targeted fiber optic funding
Politicians and industry discuss strategies, investments and cooperation for fiber optic expansion

Wiesbaden, 15 March 2023 The German Broadband Association (BREKO) is opening the 2023 trade fair season for the telecommunications industry today with Fiberdays. 230 international exhibitors will present their latest products and services relating to real fibre optics on more than 10,000 square meters. In the top-class congress program, representatives from politics and the industry will discuss how the German government’s ambitious fiber optic targets can be achieved in times of overbuilding, a shortage of skilled workers and inflation. Expert speakers from the digital and fibre optic industry will cover all current topics relating to digital infrastructure in the 100-hour workshop and seminar program.

At the opening congress of this year’s Fiberdays, current challenges in fiber optic expansion were discussed, including overbuilding, uncertainty due to market exits and more targeted funding. Asked by moderator and telecommunications industry expert Prof. Dr. Jens Böcker about the recent insolvencies of two private equity-financed companies, Norbert Westfal, President of the German Broadband Association (BREKO) and CEO of EWE TEL, said that he did not see any noticeable reduction in expansion activities: “Overall, we are seeing a steady, strong expansion of broadband – so strong that there is still a nationwide shortage of civil engineering capacity for private-sector and subsidized expansion. There are therefore more than enough orders and financial resources available. I therefore assume that we will continue to expand at full speed!” In addition to the BREKO carriers, who are currently responsible for 70% of the FTTH expansion, he also called on all other stakeholders to play their part in the success of the fiber optic expansion: “In view of the difficult framework conditions last year, we can be satisfied with what we have achieved, but further joint efforts by politicians, industry and the public are needed to achieve the expansion targets.”

In his keynote speech, Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and Transport Dr Volker Wissing gave a positive outlook for Germany’s digitalization: “Digital progress needs gigabit networks. By 2030, we want to have fiber optic to the home nationwide and the latest mobile communications standard wherever people live, work or travel. This is ambitious, but feasible – also because we can count on the industry. It invests, it expands and operates the networks, it does a great job. We support this with the right framework conditions, because network expansion is and will remain a market-driven and therefore self-economic task. In the German government’s gigabit strategy, we have agreed on measures to accelerate the expansion. Implementation is in full swing. For example, we are working on faster, digitalized procedures, have launched the new gigabit land register and have prepared an analysis of the potential for self-business fibre optic expansion in the municipalities. We are also realigning the federal government’s gigabit funding so that, in future, funding can be targeted to where there is the greatest need to catch up and where private-sector network expansion is not to be expected.”

Hesse’s Digital Minister Prof. Dr. Kristina Sinemus also supported the approach of only using state funding where there is no other option: “Our motto remains market before state and where the market does not invest, we as a state will continue to reliably support the municipalities in the expansion of fiber optics. The idea of potential analysis was introduced by Hesse and we support its use in gigabit funding at federal level. The pace of approval procedures must be stepped up further to speed up expansion, and we are already on the right of way here with our OZG broadband portal together with Rhineland-Palatinate.”

Fedor Ruhose, State Secretary in the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Transformation and Digitization, underlined the importance of fast, digital approval procedures in order to realize the enormous potential of self-economic investments: “We can only achieve the goal of nationwide fibre optic networks together. We are already well on the way to achieving this. The telecommunications industry’s investment commitments for the coming years are a strong signal. With the broadband portal, Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse have created an essential prerequisite for these funds to be quickly converted into concrete, commercial projects.”