The legislative process for the Telecommunications Network Expansion Acceleration Act (TK-NABEG) has been delayed for months. It is intended to simplify and accelerate the expansion of fiber optics and mobile communications. Together with the associations BDEW, ANGA, BREKO and VATM, a broad alliance is calling on Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz to declare this important project a top priority.

In view of the European elections on June 9, the German Broadband Association (BREKO) is calling for competition in the telecommunications market to be strengthened in order to achieve the EU's connectivity goals.

The Lower Saxony Fiber Optic Day is taking place today, Friday, in Wolfsburg. In the presence of Lower Saxony's Minister of Economic Affairs Olaf Lies, projects relating to digital applications and fiber optic infrastructure will be presented. Jan Simons, Head of State Policy at the German Broadband Association (BREKO), comments: "The Lower Saxony Fiber Optics Day has established itself as a strong format. This is good news for the expansion of digital infrastructure in the state."

The Federal Council's opposition to measures aimed at concentrating the market on large pan-European companies is a strong signal. The EU Commission has not yet provided any argument as to why a consolidated telecommunications market with a few large players would lead to more investment. In Germany, the competitors of the former monopolist Deutsche Telekom were the first to get the fiber optic expansion rolling with their investments and are currently responsible for two thirds of the expansion.

The figures from the Federal Network Agency confirm the trend already apparent in the BREKO Market Analysis 2023: fiber optic expansion is in full swing. The year-on-year increase in the number of available fiber optic connections shows that investments are continuing at a high level. The slight decline in investment in the telecommunications market as a whole probably mainly affects the copper-based bridging technologies DSL and TV cable, whose downward trend that began in 2022 has stabilized in 2023.

The expansion figures from the BMDV underline a trend: fiber optic expansion in Germany is in full swing. This is primarily thanks to Deutsche Telekom's competitors, who have so far managed two thirds of the fiber optic expansion. Although the challenges posed by the shortage of skilled workers, the turnaround in interest rates, increases in construction costs and consumer restraint have increased, they are keeping up the pace of expansion.

With today's proposal, the Federal Network Agency is giving the established mobile network operators Telekom, Telefónica and Vodafone two gifts at once - without any compensation for their competitors: in addition to the extension of frequency usage rights, the established network operators will not have to fear any unwelcome competition in the future.

The Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport Affairs is failing to achieve its self-imposed goal of adapting gigabit funding so that the number of funding applications and market exploration procedures is significantly lower than in the previous year. We are currently experiencing déjà vu here: based on the new regulation, thousands of costly funding applications are once again being submitted, which the federal government has to reject.

Today, Friday, the German Broadband Association (BREKO) celebrates its 25th anniversary. With 487 member companies, including 248 network operators, and teams in Bonn, Berlin and Brussels, the association is a strong network and the central voice for fibre optic expansion and digitalization. Today more than ever, this voice is needed to achieve the common goal: the nationwide expansion of fiber optics throughout Germany.

Whether in terms of approval procedures, dual expansion or proposed legislation: The federal states have many levers at their disposal to improve the conditions for fiber optic expansion in their municipalities. This makes it all the more important to tackle the challenges together now in this new format.