News
Deutsche Telekom says that the government must do more to incentivise telcos to build out their fibre networks, in an attempt to future proof the country’s digital economy
Germany must do more to facilitate the rollout of ultrafast and hyperfast broadband networks across the country, according to Deutsche Telekom’s chief executive, Tim Höttges.
Höttges called on the German government and the country’s telecoms regulators to remove barriers and incentivise the build out of full fibre networks, particularly in rural parts of the country.
"Too many people in Germany are just talking about the expansion of the network. Too few really do something. Deutsche Telekom has made Germany faster again in the past twelve months. I am very proud of that," Höttges said.
"I would like others to do more for the broadband buildout in the coming year. We need more cooperation, faster approval procedures and more courage to break new grounds."
At present, Deutsche Telekom is focussing on providing ultrafast services via its fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) rollout programme. In 2018, Deutsche Telekom installed 23,000 new cabinets, bringing its total estate to 177,600 cabinets. This has allowed the company to deliver ultrafast services (100Mbps+) to millions of subscribers across Germany. DT expects to complete its FTTC push in 2020.
Once it has completed its FTTC programme, DT will switch its focus to providing fibre to the home (FTTH) services, connecting 2 million properties per year to full, gigabit capable FTTH services.
In 2018, DT laid 60,000km of fibre optic cabling, increasing the size of its fibre optic network to 500,000km, but Germany’s biggest telco says that it needs more help from the government if it is to continue growing at this rate.
"Our ambition is to give our customers the best network experience – and not just in densely-populated areas," said Walter Goldenits, CTO at D’s fixed line subsidiary, Telekom Deutschland.
"To ensure this, we’re making massive investments in planning, building, and running our networks."
Also in the news:
DT launches appeal against 5G auction obligations
DT plans to launch LTE-M network in 2019
DT reveals ambitious plans for 5G in rural Germany
