Gigabit Infrastructure Act: EU must now create conditions for rapid fiber optic expansion

Berlin/Brussels/Bonn, 09.01.2024 – In the coming weeks, a decisive course will be set in Brussels for the expansion of digital infrastructure in Germany and Europe. In view of the ongoing trilogue negotiations on the Gigabit Infrastructure Act (GIA), the German Broadband Association (BREKO) and the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) are calling for investment-friendly framework conditions for companies driving forward the construction and operation of fiber optic networks.

In a joint position paper, the associations argue in particular for the inclusion of a regulation that protects investments in further network expansion from strategically destructive behavior by competitors. The more than 2,000 member companies of BREKO and BDEW provide the basic infrastructure for citizens. In particular in the form of fast Internet access via fiber optic networks. To date, they have implemented more than two thirds of the fiber optic expansion in Germany and intend to invest at least 20 billion euros in network expansion over the next few years. They are thus making a decisive contribution to achieving the EU target of providing all households in Europe with gigabit-capable broadband connections by 2030.

In order not to lose sight of the EU connectivity target, the EU Commission, EU Parliament and member states must agree in the trilogue negotiations that the GIA should provide incentives for further investment in fiber optic expansion. However, there is a risk for existing and future investments in fiber optic networks, as the planned shared use of existing physical infrastructures can be used for a strategic overbuilding of fiber optic networks. In order to prevent these negative effects, a legal regulation is required that enables telecommunications providers to reject applications from other providers for the shared use of their infrastructure under certain conditions if viable alternatives – in particular in the form of virtual access products – are offered.

The associations are therefore calling on the trilogue parties to include the Council’s proposal for virtual bitstream access in the regulation as an alternative to the shared use of physical infrastructures – on fair and non-discriminatory terms. The future legal framework must under no circumstances slow down the expansion of fiber optics and prevent further investment.

In order to further increase the speed of the expansion of the digital infrastructure, bureaucratic hurdles must also be removed. BREKO and BDEW advocate the introduction of a fictitious approval, according to which applications for the expansion of fiber optic and mobile networks are automatically deemed approved if they have not been processed within a certain period of time. This would be an important step towards speeding up the currently lengthy approval procedures in the EU member states.

The joint BREKO and BDEW position paper can be downloaded here.