The report by WIK-Consult and EY on behalf of the Federal Network Agency on the competitive situation in the mobile communications market has considerable shortcomings. It is therefore not suitable for making valid statements about competition in mobile telephony. These are the findings of a report published today by experts Prof. Dr. Ralf Dewenter (Helmut-Schmidt-University Hamburg) and Jun.-Prof. Dr. Gordon J. Klein (University of Münster) on behalf of the German Broadband Association (BREKO).

The right to a minimum supply of telecommunications services is the last resort and may only be applied if there is no other option for providing a basic internet supply. This is because this approach is significantly more costly than development via the federal government's gigabit funding - and even more so in comparison to a self-sufficient fiber optic expansion.

With the Gigabit Campus and Municipal Marketplace, the central meeting of the German fiber optic industry in 2024 has also developed into an important point of contact for municipal politics and administration. At the same time, the media hall integrated into fiberdays brought together the who's who of the media industry.

Wolfsburg and Emsdetten are Germany's first "real fiber-optic municipalities". At fiberdays24, the cities from Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia received awards from the German Broadband Association (BREKO) for their nationwide fiber optic expansion.

The telecommunications industry is robust in the face of increasing challenges and is calling for five immediate political measures to keep fiber optic investments attractive. DIW head Fratzscher emphasizes the potential of digitalization for the competitiveness of the German economy.

The EU Commission wants to support the nationwide expansion of fiber optics and mobile communications in Europe by strengthening the telecommunications industry. That's a good thing. Removing bureaucratic hurdles, improving the framework conditions for private investment in network expansion: The central ideas of the White Paper are a step in the right direction.

The two-day program of fiberdays 24 offers lectures, panel discussions, seminars and workshops on all the top topics of the fiber optic industry. Representatives from all well-known companies in the German telecommunications industry will talk to politicians and administrators about current strategic challenges, investments, sustainability, open access and much more.

Fiber optics is the future-proof network technology for transmitting large volumes of data reliably and quickly. But the networks also need content to show what they are capable of. The opportunities and challenges this presents for network operators, content providers and TV broadcasters will be the focus of this year's media hall at fiberdays 24 on 27 and 28 February in Wiesbaden.

After months of negotiations, the Gigabit Infrastructure Act has unfortunately ended as a lukewarm compromise that will not significantly facilitate the expansion of mobile and fiber optic networks in Europe. An additional investment hurdle that had been discussed in the meantime was only just prevented. However, hardly anything has remained of the positive approaches of previous drafts.

Protection against attacks on critical infrastructures is a core task for the state and the economy. The German Broadband Association (BREKO) has developed a concept for a decentralized infrastructure atlas (dISA) in order to meet the increased need for security on the one hand and the need for efficient data usage for the expansion of fiber optics and mobile communications on the other. The dISA is intended to make data exchange not only more secure, but also more efficient and up-to-date.