The Gigabit Strategy, which was adopted by the German federal government a year ago, is intended to be a compass for fibre optic and mobile expansion in Germany.
On the current implementation status of the strategy, eco Board Member Klaus Landefeld has the following to say:
“Overall, the companies are content with the goals and targets outlined in the gigabit strategy. The unappealing funding freeze in the expansion of digital infrastructure has been overcome and the focus of a self-supported expansion is increasingly being considered. Even though approximately four million new fibre optic connections were realised last year, the following still applies: a fast and optimised expansion of digital infrastructures must remain the top priority of the German Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport, as this forms the basis of the digital transformation process in Germany. “We still significantly lag behind in international comparisons.”
In particular, the urgently needed acceleration in the planning and approval of installations can only be achieved effectively if the procedures under building law are digitalised, approval requirements are eliminated, and similar bureaucratic simplifications are made. At present, however, construction work for fibre optic and mobile phone expansion is regularly delayed for months due to capacity bottlenecks in the administrations, argues the Internet Industry Association.
Landefeld: “The announced Acceleration Act, the pact of the countries to accelerate planning and approval by means of uniform digital building applications as well as the fictitious approval for new facilities, must now come about. In particular, countries are called upon to allow standardisation and not to let the German federal government’s efforts be stifled by federalism!”
