Munich/Bonn, October 19, 2022 The Bavarian state government agrees with telecommunications network operators, the Bavarian municipal umbrella organizations as well as the Federal Association of Broadband Communication (BREKO) and the Association of Municipal Enterprises (VKU) on measures to provide the state with nationwide fixed and mobile network coverage “at gigabit level” by 2025.

The pact relies on all stakeholders working together to provide future-proof digital infrastructures by 2025 wherever people live, work, travel or regularly visit. The aim is for Bavaria to play a pioneering role both nationally and internationally. Specifically, the pact lists ten measures to provide Bavaria with fixed and mobile networks at gigabit level by 2025. These include the goal of significantly increasing the number of fiber optic connections available to buildings.

In addition to the Bavarian Minister President Dr. Markus Söder, other members of the state government and the BREKO, the signatories to the Digital Infrastructure Pact are the VKU, the Bavarian Association of Counties, the Association of Municipalities, the Association of Cities and the Association of Districts, as well as 14 telecommunications companies, including the nine BREKO members Bisping & Bisping, COM-IN, DB broadband, Deutsche Glasfaser, Leonet, LEW TelNet, OneFiber Interconnect, R-KOM and Unsere Grüne Glasfaser.

On behalf of the signatories organized in BREKO, Alfred Rauscher, Managing Director of R-KOM and spokesman for the BREKO regional group Bavaria, emphasizes the importance of cooperation with the municipalities for the future of Bavaria as a business location: “By signing the Bavarian Digital Infrastructure Pact, the nine participating BREKO member companies are reaffirming their sustained commitment to the Bavarian fiber optic expansion. As partners of the municipalities, the BREKO members are building real fiber optic networks right into the buildings and thus securing the attractiveness and competitiveness of the Free State.”

“With the pact, politicians and network operators are creating a common basis for rapidly expanding the digital infrastructure in Bavaria,” says Jan Simons, Head of State and Municipal Policy at BREKO, pleased with today’s agreement, but adds: “In order for Bavaria to further consolidate its pioneering role in digitization, we must fill the words of the pact with life. Above all, this includes offering digital application procedures immediately and simplifying the use of modern installation methods.”

In order to achieve the goals of the pact, the state government, municipal associations and the telecommunications industry have agreed on a series of concrete measures and set them out in a comprehensive action plan. According to this plan, the participating companies plan to drive forward the “rapid expansion of fiber optics to at least the buildings” and to implement more than three million new fiber optic connections (FTTB/FTTH) by 2025. This would give Bavaria a fiber optic penetration rate of over 60 percent in just over three years – far more than the 50 percent targeted by the federal government for the whole of Germany at that time. For comparison: in mid-2022, the fiber optic quota in Bavaria was still at 25% according to BREKO Market Analysis 2022.

This leap is to be achieved by giving clear priority to self-economic expansion, which will only be flanked by lean and targeted funding programs where it is really necessary. The state government is also pledging its support for the increased use of alternative installation methods, particularly at shallow installation depths, as well as digital and accelerated approval procedures. Cooperation and open access agreements between the companies involved are also intended to promote the expansion of digital infrastructures – in both mobile and fixed networks.