In 2017, we made a conscious decision to establish a BREKO regional group in Baden-Württemberg. The aim was to represent our common ideas of nationwide fiber optic expansion to state politicians.

The past few years have shown that the founding of the regional group was the right step. With political formats such as a parliamentary breakfast or the close exchange with the Ministry of the Interior, the BREKO regional group has become an important point of contact in the field of digital infrastructure in Baden-Württemberg. The more than 30 members of the BREKO Baden-Württemberg regional group meet once a quarter to discuss current events at state and national level and also invite external experts as required.

The BREKO Bavarian regional group was founded in 2019 with the aim of actively shaping fiber optic expansion in Bavaria together.

To this end, we see ourselves as a reliable partner to state and local politicians. The expansion of fiber optics affects many political and economic interest groups, which is why we are also in close contact with the Bavarian State Ministry of Finance, the parliamentary groups in the state parliament and business associations. For example, the regional group held a joint campaign for the local elections in Bavaria in March 2020 to promote the topic of fiber optic expansion. At the regional group meetings, which usually take place three to four times a year, we discuss topics relevant to fiber optic expansion, always with a focus on Bavaria. The regional group meetings also offer the 30 BREKO member companies in Bavaria a wide range of networking and exchange opportunities.

The Hesse regional group consists of the 27 BREKO member companies expanding in Hesse.

The regional group has been meeting four times a year since 2019 to discuss current topics relating to fiber optic expansion in Germany and specifically in Hesse. The regional group is also in contact with the new Ministry of Digital Affairs, which was founded in 2019. BREKO also regularly takes an active part in the broadband summit, which is organized by the Hesse Broadband Office. The FrankfurtRhineMain gigabit region is one of the topics in which the regional group specifically represents BREKO positions at regional level. The Hesse regional group makes the regional fiber optic expansion and the added value of the member companies expanding in Hesse tangible in the fiber optic expansion.

The Lower Saxony regional group was founded on October 7, 2020.

The North-East regional group is made up of BREKO member companies from Berlin, Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

This allows all participants to benefit from the expertise of three different federal states and, thanks to the different approaches of the respective federal states, jointly find solutions to challenges and exchange successful concepts with each other. BREKO member companies from the three federal states have been meeting regularly to exchange ideas since April 2019. Due to this constellation, the members of the regional group have agreed on a dual leadership.

The North-East regional group shows that regional cooperation, even across state borders, can lead to the common goal of nationwide fiber optic expansion by anchoring it locally. The regional group is the point of contact for both municipal and state political representatives. As a member of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Digitalization Advisory Board, BREKO is actively involved together with other relevant stakeholders at the state level, helping to accelerate the expansion of fiber optics.

The member companies of the German Broadband Communications Association (BREKO) expanding in North Rhine-Westphalia founded the NRW regional group on January 13, 2021.

With almost 40 member companies, the NRW regional group is the ninth of the BREKO regional groups. The result of a survey of BREKO network operators from December 2020 shows how strong the influence of regional companies is: BREKO companies active in North Rhine-Westphalia are planning to invest over 600 million euros in fiber optic expansion in NRW in 2021.

Commenting on the goals of the new state group, its state representative Dr. Stephan Zimmermann says: “An important goal of the state group is to further improve the framework conditions for the expansion of fibre optics in NRW and thus drive the expansion forward. Together with the political players, we will work on digitizing and accelerating approval procedures. The recognition of sustainable and fast installation methods as the state of the art is an important building block here.”

The BREKO Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland regional group was founded on May 13, 2020, making it the youngest working group at state level to be established as part of the regional concept.

The geographical proximity of the two federal states has created a strong regional group that represents the common BREKO positions.

The members of the working group have decided to elect Bernd Gowitzke (KEVAG Telekom GmbH) and Marc Kahabka (VSE NET GmbH) as their regional group spokespersons, consisting of one member from Saarland and one from Rhineland-Palatinate.

The regional group has also set itself the goal of intensifying BREKO’s current activities in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, meeting four times a year and acting as a central point of contact for decision-makers in both federal states.

The BREKO Saxony regional group is made up of ten member companies that are expanding in the Free State of Saxony.

The members of the regional group have been meeting regularly since October 2018 to discuss the current challenges of fiber optic expansion in Saxony and Germany. The regional group is in close contact with the Saxon Ministry of Economics, Labor and Transport, which is primarily responsible for issues relating to the expansion of digital infrastructures. However, the meetings of the members, which take place approximately once a quarter, do not only focus on regulatory issues. The regular rotation of the hosts of the state group meetings gives members the opportunity to present their companies and their solutions for fiber optic expansion and to grow closer together within the state community.

The BREKO Saxony-Anhalt/Thuringia regional group began its work in April 2021 and was founded with the aim of actively shaping fiber optic expansion together.

The BREKO Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg regional group was founded at the beginning of 2017 as one of two pilot regional groups within BREKO. The aim of our work is to promote the expansion of fiber optics in Schleswig-Holstein and to be a reliable point of contact for politicians

To this end, we are in close contact with the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Transport, Labour, Technology and Tourism of the State of Schleswig-Holstein, the Ministry of Energy Transition, Agriculture, Environment, Nature and Digitization, the parliamentary groups in the state parliament and other stakeholders in the field of fibre optic expansion. The approximately 20 members of the BREKO Schleswig-Holstein/Hamburg regional group meet three to four times a year. The meetings of the regional groups usually have an overarching specialist topic (for example, the practical implementation of open access or civil engineering capacities in Schleswig-Holstein), to which an expert is invited. In addition, the latest political and regulatory developments in other federal states and the federal government are reported on. The regular meetings also offer the opportunity to exchange experiences and get to know each other.