With a new version of the Telecommunications Act, the German federal government wants to guarantee the course for a rapid fibre-optic expansion and for a right to fast Internet. A first draft of the bill has now been made public. For the Association of the Internet Industry, a legally and planning secure regulatory environment is the basic prerequisite for the predominantly private-sector expansion of gigabit networks as the most important pillar for achieving the German and European gigabit targets. The association views an expansion obligation for the companies involved with concern.
eco board member Klaus Landefeld says:
“There is no question that fast Internet is currently more important than ever for everyone, society and the economy. The question arises, however, whether the path of a very complex, multi-stage process, which may lead to an obligation to expand, is the right one. A blanket, statutory obligation to expand will not necessarily help, it will unsettle companies and runs the risk of merely introducing more inefficiency into the market-driven approach. Small and medium-sized enterprises in particular will quickly find these requirements fundamentally overburdening. Instead, national hurdles such as construction planning and building regulations should be removed and applied uniformly. Support measures should be introduced in a targeted manner where market-driven expansion is not readily possible. In addition, subsidies must be made available in a less bureaucratic and more efficient way so that we can finally burst open these bottlenecks too.
