Viewpoint
Germany stands at a decisive inflection point in its digital infrastructure journey. Fibre rollout is now officially deemed of overriding public interest until 2030 — yet the country’s deployment remains uneven, delayed by fragmented execution, overlapping jurisdictions, and competing incentives.
While billions have been committed and technology keeps improving, progress is constrained by a deeper paradox: the fibre challenge is no longer technical — it’s relational.
This whitepaper argues that Germany’s digital acceleration depends on a new generation of radically interoperable partnerships — where Telco’s, utilities, municipalities, and innovators move beyond competition to build shared value ecosystems.
Drawing from cross-sector case studies, economic modelling, and policy analysis, this paper proposes a “Partnership Compact for Germany 2030”, outlining how collaborative infrastructure can deliver faster rollout, smarter investment, and stronger digital sovereignty. The path forward demands a mind-set shift: from trenching faster to partnering smarter.
The State of Fibre in Germany
Germany’s Fibre Landscape 2025: Progress and Patchwork
Germany’s digital ambitions are clear. The federal government has declared fibre-optic network
expansion to be of overriding public interest until 2030, signalling an unprecedented policy
commitment to closing the connectivity gap. Yet despite this clarity of intent, the reality on the
ground tells a more complicated story.
As of early 2025, only approximately 40% of German households have access to fibre-to-the
home (FTTH) connections. This figure masks significant disparities: while major urban centres
see competitive offerings from multiple providers, rural and semi-rural regions continue to struggle with inadequate coverage. The digital divide is not merely a matter of geography — it reflects deeper structural challenges in how infrastructure is planned, financed, and deployed.
Germany’s telecommunications landscape is uniquely fragmented. Dozens of operators, represented by associations including BREKO (Federal Association of Broadband and Telecommunications), BUGLAS (Federal Association of Carriers and Services), and VATM (Association of Telecommunications and Value-Added Service Providers), are simultaneously building networks across overlapping territories. While this competitive energy has driven innovation and investment, it has also led to inefficiencies: parallel trenching in profitable areas, underinvestment in challenging terrain, and coordination failures that delay projects and inflate costs.
The Partnership Paradox
Here lies the central tension: everyone agrees that cooperation is essential, yet meaningful collaboration remains scarce. Industry roundtables produce consensus statements. Policy forums emphasize coordination. Yet on the ground, competitive instincts, regulatory complexity, and misaligned incentives keep stakeholders working in parallel rather than in partnership.
The irony is stark. Germany has no shortage of capital — public funding schemes, private investment vehicles, and European recovery funds have mobilized billions for digital infrastructure. The technology is mature and proven. The regulatory framework has been clarified. What remains missing is the connective tissue between actors: the trust mechanisms, governance structures, and economic incentives that would enable true collaborative infrastructure at scale.
The real constraint is coordination — not capital or technology.
Research Question
This whitepaper addresses a fundamental challenge: How can Germany unlock collaborative infrastructure models that balance competition, efficiency, and public good? The answer requires moving beyond traditional dichotomies of public versus private, or competition versus monopoly. It demands exploring a third way: structured co-opetition, where operators compete on services while cooperating on infrastructure; where municipalities act as neutral conveners rather than competitors; where data and governance become shared assets that accelerate deployment without compromising commercial differentiation.
The following sections examine the economic rationale for collaboration, draw lessons from adjacent sectors that have navigated similar transitions, propose governance frameworks for shared digital infrastructure, and outline a concrete policy pathway toward a Partnership Compact for Germany 2030.
Download the whitepaper: The Partnership Paradox_Final draft
Join the discussion about Germany’s fibre future in Munich on the 18 – 19 November 2025. Get your ticket here: Connected Germany 2025 | München
