The goal is clear: by 2030 there should be fiber optic connections to the home nationwide. There is still a long way to go. But by 2022, Germany will have made several thousand kilometers of progress. We take a look back.
When Olaf Scholz gave the New Year’s address on December 31, 2021, it was the first time in sixteen years that Angela Merkel did not speak to the German people. Of course, it was about corona, at that time the Omikron variant was circulating and there were still contact restrictions. His outlook for 2022 was optimistic. At the time, few people suspected that Russia would invade Ukraine on February 24. That overshadowed many things. Especially for the people in Ukraine, the women, men and children, the Russian war of aggression brought suffering and destruction. Germany had to become independent of Russian gas. Price increases and shortages were the consequences. Gigabit expansion also suffered from the economic changes in 2022, from rising material and civil engineering costs to the lack of skilled workers, which almost all sectors in Germany are complaining about. But overall, numerous milestones were nevertheless reached in the gigabit expansion in 2022 and the path to the digital future was further expanded.
On December 8, 2021, the new government was sworn in and the goals agreed in the coalition agreement slowly got rolling. This also includes a new look at digitalization and the necessary expansion of fibre optics. After all, only with fiber optics to buildings and homes can users be guaranteed to use digital services at gigabit speeds across the board. The new government, a traffic light coalition for the first time, signed the coalition agreement on December 7, 2021. This is valid until 2025 and describes the situation in general terms as follows: “Germany needs a comprehensive digital awakening. We want to use the potential of digitalization for people’s development opportunities, for prosperity, freedom, social participation and sustainability. To this end, we will set ourselves ambitious and verifiable goals and take realistic and quickly noticeable measures. Our goal is to provide nationwide coverage with fiber optics and the latest mobile communications standard. Self-economic expansion has priority. We invest in particular where there is the greatest need to catch up, especially in white spots. While safeguarding investment protection, we enable open access on fair terms, where necessary through regulation. We will ensure speed in infrastructure expansion through streamlined digital application and approval procedures, standardization of alternative installation technologies and the establishment of a nationwide gigabit base directory.”
The government became even more specific in the summer. On July 17, the department presented its gigabit strategy. The federal government’s overarching goal for a modern Germany is the nationwide, energy- and resource-efficient provision of fiber optic connections to the home and the latest mobile communications standard, wherever people live, work and travel – even in rural areas. This goal is to be achieved by 2030. At the end of August, the Federal Cabinet then adopted the digital strategy presented by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV). This sets out the overarching framework for digital policy in Germany for the current legislative period. The ministry placed a focus on digital infrastructures.
Digital infrastructures – accelerate expansion. Targeting funding precisely
Federal Minister Dr. Volker Wissing summed up the challenge in a nutshell: “We need a comprehensive digital awakening for Germany. The digital strategy is a concrete vision for the future with tangible and measurable goals for the social, economic and scientific transformation process. And as the Federal Government, we are committed to implementing it by the end of the legislative period – i.e. by 2025. We want to be measured against this.”
Functioning and sustainable infrastructures are the backbone of digital participation. The expansion should be accelerated, but also reach the rural areas of the country. By 2030, the whole of Germany should have fast internet. In order to achieve this goal faster and more cost-effectively, the aim was to focus more on alternative installation technologies. A central access portal was also planned with the gigabit land register. To ensure that these are not just empty promises, the BMDV also formulated various milestones for the fiber optic expansion in the strategy, against which performance should be measured. It is being examined whether:
– approval procedures for construction have been accelerated and digitized,
– at least half of the stationary connections are supplied with fiber optics,
– the necessary workers and specialists are available,
– the use of alternative installation techniques has been significantly strengthened,
– the gigabit land register has created more transparency with regard to the information relevant to gigabit expansion.
What has been achieved?
Let’s start with the last point. The Gigabit Grundbuch is online. Since December, all important information on telecommunications infrastructures in Germany has been centrally available on the online platform www.gigabitgrundbuch.bund.de.
The use of alternative installation techniques was confirmed and the basis for their increased use was laid. The draft for DIN 18220 is available and comments could be submitted until January 18.
It is difficult to obtain specific figures on the number of skilled workers. However, one thing is certain: the shortage of skilled workers is also noticeable in fiber optic expansion, be it in civil engineering or in technical professions. Skilled labor initiatives are currently underway to improve the situation in the medium term. Despite the difficult framework conditions, it should be noted that The expansion of fiber optics is progressing.
The subsidized expansion was a success story in 2022, the pots were fully exhausted: the federal government provided over 3 billion euros for fiber optic expansion and thus for fast gigabit connections. State funding and local authority contributions are on top of this. The Ministry of Digital Affairs and Transport sees this as a success and the figures confirm this. So far, 12.4 billion euros have been committed in the federal funding programs broadband (white-spot program) and gigabit (grey-spot program). This is the largest volume of funding that has ever been used for this purpose. Due to the high demand, the first call for funding in the grey-spot program was initially ended on 17 October 2022.
Examples of the great impact of the funding concept can be found in successful projects such as in the Main-Kinzig district, where more than 50,000 connections are being realized with more than 100 million euros from federal funding, and in the Märkischer Kreis district in North Rhine-Westphalia, where the federal government is making the expansion possible with almost 50 million euros. With the support of the federal, state and local authorities, around 600,000 fiber optic connections will be made possible, including around 530,000 at private addresses, 75,000 at socio-economic focal points (including around 830 schools) and 1,680 connections in so-called hard-to-access individual locations. In addition, 912 initial applications were approved nationwide in 2022.
Outlook for 2023
One thing is clear: state funding will continue. New funds will be made available for this in the 2023 budget, which will be at the same level as in 2022. The funding threshold will be increased and it has been agreed that if the wave of applications is too high, it will be necessary to manage the applications sensibly. Accordingly, areas with the greatest need for funding will be prioritized. The details are now being worked out at full speed and the new funding program is to be presented at the beginning of April. This means that 2023 can be another successful year for gigabit expansion.