Despite more public funding and new legislation to accelerate network deployments, the Government has been accused of prioritising mobile connectivity over fibre
The long-awaited act aims to cut red tape hindering broadband deployments, reflecting the Government’s commitment to digitisation
On 24 July 2024, the German Government’s Federal Cabinet approved a draft law presented by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV) to accelerate the expansion of fixed and mobile networks across the country. The primary aims of the highly-anticipated – but much-delayed – TK Network Expansion Acceleration Act, or TK-NABEG, are to reduce bureaucracy in network expansion and to use data more efficiently. Volker Wissing (Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and Transport) stated that the act helps address the urgent need to deploy digital infrastructure, while sending an important signal to the economy about the Government’s determination to drive digitisation. Together with simplified procedures and more precise information in the Gigabit land register (a consolidated online portal on network rollouts), the BMDV hopes the act will lay an important foundation for providing Germany with high-quality fixed and mobile connectivity nationwide by the end of the decade.
The expansion of mobile networks will be exempt from certain environmental regulations, although fibre will not enjoy the same benefit
Notably, Wissing added that the Government will be able to balance environmental protection with the deployment of digital infrastructure, with the Federal Ministry for the Environment accused by some stakeholders, including industry association Bitkom, of holding up progress of the TK-NABEG. Moving forward, the rollout of telecoms networks will be considered to be in the “overriding public interest” (at least until 31 December 2030). As a result, the construction of mobile masts may be exempt from usual restrictions under nature conservation laws where it allows for uninterrupted connectivity. However, the fact that fibre networks will not benefit from the same exemption has been met with disappointment. German broadband association Breko has stated that the rollout of fibre is “obviously no longer a priority” for the Government, while telecoms and media industry group the VATM has called the act a “half-baked compromise”. Nevertheless, according to the BMDV, the TK-NABEG will improve the overall conditions for network deployment by:
Accelerating the granting of rights of way by shortening approval deadlines and simplifying procedures;
Creating a right to use public buildings for the purpose of setting up mobile base stations;
Empowering the regulator BNetzA to require railway companies to cooperate in the vicinity of tracks in order to ensure uninterrupted mobile phone coverage; and
Ensuring data collected by BNetzA is used more efficiently and, where possible and permissible, published.
The objectives of the TK-NABEG will be supported by a significant uplift in the amount of public funding available
The TK-NABEG implements key measures of the Government's Gigabitstrategie, which is aiming for 100% full fibre access by 2030 and nationwide 5G coverage by 2026. The BMDV states that network expansion is progressing apace; however, the country is playing catch-up on full fibre coverage to most of its European peers given Deutsche Telekom’s past preference for vectoring over the deployment of fibre. According to BNetzA, around one in three households now has a fibre connection, which leaves work to do to achieve the Gigabitstrategie’s interim milestone of 50% of premises reached by 2025. On 5G, the BMDV states that Germany is one of the leading countries in Europe, with 92% coverage. BNetzA data also suggests that 5G accounted for 30% of all mobile connections at the end of 2023. That figure represents a significant increase over the past two years, improving on the 6% adoption rate recorded in 2021. Efforts to deliver against these ambitious targets stand to benefit from a recent – and major – boost in funding. According to our Broadband and USO Tracker, the Government has received EC clearance to more than triple the amount of state funding available to €38bn (£32bn). This makes Germany one of the most generous countries for public broadband subsidies per capita.
