Overview:

Germany is one of the growing number of European countries which have reached a turning point regarding national broadband architecture. Until this year, the presiding focus was on squeezing greater capacity out of copper (DSL and cable), while relegating fibre to backhaul in most instances, with FttH being delivered in only a few urbanised areas. This was largely for reasons of cost, but it also resulted from a misguided appreciation of future consumer requirements for bandwidth, as also a misunderstanding of the national economic benefits of a fibre-based IP network. This has changed, and rapidly. Many areas with fibre infrastructure in place are providing a unique business case in favour of FttH, since the cost of installing the Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (DSLAMs) needed to upgrade the copper cable networks has become more expensive than using the existing optical network. The potential for using and extending the fibre infrastructure in these areas is substantial, and recent moves by the regulator as well as pragmatic commercial decisions by telcos are expediting Germany’s migration to FttH nationally.

1. Synopsis
2. DT’s changing focus
3. Regulation in 2006 – a false start
4. Regulation in 2010 – open access
5. DT’s FttC showed results
6. DT’s FttH as the future
7. Municipal involvement in fibre
8. Background
8.1 Government Broadband Strategy
8.2 Deutsche Telekom

Table 1 – Proportion of DSL subscribers by provider – 2001 - 2011
Table 2 – Deutsche Telekom Group financial data – 2005 - 2010
Table 3 – Deutsche Telekom domestic subscribers by sector – 2008 - 2010
Table 4 – Deutsche Telekom unbundled lines – 2008 - 2010