On Friday 13 November, the European Commission authorised German State aid to support the deployment of very high capacity Gigabit speed broadband networks in Germany. The aid will provide these networks to customers in areas not currently served by the market, in line with the EU’s broadband connectivity objectives.
Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President responsible for Competition Policy, recalled that the Commission actively supports the deployment of a Gigabit infrastructure in Europe. “The German scheme will allow for a real step up for very high-speed connectivity in Germany. It will ensure that public funds are channelled to areas most in need of better connectivity, while encouraging investment by private operators”, she said.
The scheme aims to develop a new, publicly funded, very high capacity connectivity infrastructure that will bring faster internet to households, businesses and public institutions in Germany. A total national budget of €6 billion is foreseen, which will be supplemented by contributions to the various projects from regional and local budgets, for an estimated overall budget of €12 billion. The new networks will be capable of speeds of 1 Gigabit per second (‘Gbps’) in symmetrical (upload and download) throughput, which is significantly higher than the speeds currently available to users in the target areas. The German scheme will therefore significantly improve Gigabit connectivity (‘step change’). It will be accessible to underserved households, businesses and public institutions.
During the first phase, Germany will focus on supporting the deployment of Gigabit infrastructure for households currently limited to access speeds below 100 megabits per second (‘Mbps’).
During the second phase, starting in 2023, the aid will also cover the deployment of Gigabit infrastructure to households that already have access to 100 Mbps speeds, but not to a network already providing very high speeds of up to 1 Gigabit. Germany intends to make Gigabit networks available to all citizens by the end of 2025.
The scheme is in line with the strategic objectives of the Commission’s 2016 Communication on Gigabit, as it allows public investment in areas where the objectives set out in the Communication (household access to 100 Mbps infrastructure capable of increasing to Gigabit speeds by 2025) have not yet been achieved.
In order to avoid duplication of infrastructure, the German authorities will therefore take into account the investments that market players have already made and plan to make, as follows: - the infrastructure will make it possible to connect customers who do not yet have access to certain minimum speeds (100 Mbps download for households, 200 Mbps symmetrical or more than 500 Mbps download for businesses and public institutions; - from 2023 onwards, the same threshold as for enterprises and public institutions will be applied to households; - new networks will not be deployed where a very high-capacity network is already in place or is planned by private investors, such as a fibre-to-the-customer network or an advanced cable network; - areas where at least two networks provide fast broadband (30 Mbps or more) in parallel are also excluded from the scheme. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)