Poor investment conditions dampen market sentiment

Bonn/Cologne, 2 September 2026 – Network operators in Germany are continuing to drive fibre rollout, bringing fibre coverage to 62.0% (28.7 million households and businesses; up 9.2 percentage points year-on-year) and the number of active fibre connections to 7.9 million (+1.3 million). At the same time, market conditions are deteriorating noticeably. These are the findings of the latest BREKO Market Analysis as of 30 June 2026, which this year was conducted for the first time by IW Consult, a subsidiary of the German Economic Institute (IW).

• The investment climate in the telecommunications market has deteriorated significantly (-13.3 percentage points). While the current business situation remains positive (26.8), expectations for the future are considerably weaker (15.8). Improving investment conditions is therefore urgently needed.
• Sharp increases in rollout and financing costs make an even more efficient approach to fibre deployment essential: fibre coverage has risen to 62%, while the share of premises actually connected has increased only slightly to 29.8%, and the take-up rate remains at 27%.
• 78% of network operators consider a competition-compliant, rules-based transition from copper to fibre networks

Fibre industry maintains strong rollout momentum – calls for investment incentives and greater planning certainty

Bonn, 14 August 2025 – Despite the economic downturn, Deutsche Telekom’s competitors continue to maintain high levels of investment in network rollout, laying the foundation for Germany’s digital transformation and urgently needed economic growth. As of 30 June 2025, fibre coverage (Homes Passed) stood at 52.8%, an increase of 9.6 percentage points compared with the previous year. The share of households, businesses and public institutions connected to fibre – the fibre connection rate (Homes Connected) – rose by 4.5 percentage points to 27.3%. Demand for fibre connections also increased, with 1.4 million additional fibre customers compared with the previous year.

• Fibre coverage rises to 52.8%, while the fibre connection rate reaches 27.3%
• 1.4 million new fibre customers compared with the previous year
• Deutsche Telekom’s competitors account for the majority of fibre rollout and are bringing fibre to an increasing number of households
• The framework for the transition from copper to fibre must create incentives for investment and strengthen competition
• Schleswig-Holstein leads the federal state ranking, ahead of Hamburg, Bremen and Saxony-Anhalt; Lower Saxony records the strongest growth among Germany’s non-city states

Fiber optic expansion remains on track despite numerous challenges: Fiber optic available to more than a third of households nationwide.

30.08.2023: With the BREKO Market Analysis 2023 published today, the German Broadband Association (BREKO) shows that Germany is well on the way to achieving the federal government’s expansion targets with a fiber optic coverage of 35.6 percent (as of June 30, 2023). With record investments, Deutsche Telekom’s competitors are ensuring a high pace of network expansion, especially in the roll-out of fiber optic networks for their own use. In addition to long-standing hurdles such as a shortage of skilled workers and slow approval procedures, the tactical double expansion of fiber optic networks in particular threatens to put the brakes on expansion.

• Fiber optic coverage in Germany at 35.6 percent in mid-2023
• Deutsche Telekom’s competitors are investing more than ever in Germany’s digitalization with 8.4 billion euros
• Dual expansion by Telekom jeopardizes the German government’s fibre optic targets: reported cases in more than 220 municipalities
• Schleswig-Holstein remains the front-runner in a state comparison. Brandenburg with largest increase in fiber optic connections

Exclusively for members: Video recording of the presentation of the BREKO Market Analysis 2023 for member companies on August 30, 2023