The German Government Plans to Allocate €50 Billion for the Expansion of the Fiber Optic Network and 5G


Recently, The German government has announced a new strategy. It plans to double the number of connections to the network between now and 2030. You want to ensure that all homes and businesses in urban and rural areas have access to fiber to the home (FTTH) and 5G services.

High speed fiber optic
The fiber optic network

As communication needs increase, Germany places increasing emphasis on the deployment of fiber optic network construction.

According to a report by EURACTIV, the German telecommunications sector has committed to invest 50.000 million euros in the construction and expansion of private fiber in the coming years.

The German Government will also provide public subsidies in areas where commercial expansion is not of great value.

The German government hopes to accelerate the deployment of its fiber optic network eliminating some of the cumbersome procedures. The Federal Ministry of Digital Affairs and Transport (BMDV) claims that it currently takes up to four months to process applications for fiber optic installation in Germany.

Partly, This delay is due to the fact that some 12.000 Different departments in Germany will all have different requirements and forms. The plan is to introduce a simplified online system that will be standardized throughout Germany by the end of 2022.

Maximilian Funke-Kaiser, spokesperson for the Liberal Democrat parliamentary group on digital policy, highlights that fiber optics will give a new boost to the company's expansion. For it, Planning and approval procedures will be simplified and accelerated. And installation methods will be improved.

Red de 5G
5G connections

The Ministry of Numbers and Transport has also carried out an analysis of where private sector expansion is needed and where government subsidies are needed.

Nevertheless, according to the Federation of German Industries, Government-funded expansion and private sector investment do not necessarily go hand in hand effectively.

The federation affirms that investments could be expelled from the market by the wave of financing unleashed. The federation also points out that the new strategy does not offer sufficient security for companies' expansion plans..

To accelerate the full deployment of fiber optic lines, other complementary policies will be introduced in Germany. Among them is the exploration of different ways to install fiber optics, such as ground deployment and microdrilling technology.

The German government plans to actively demonstrate how companies, municipalities and public institutions can benefit from 5G.

Besides, the government also mentions Open RAN. States that with Open RAN dependency on international suppliers can be reduced. And that 6G can be introduced more quickly in Germany.