As part of the FTTH expansion, Telekom wants to establish 1 million fiber optic connections in the major cities of Hamburg, Frankfurt am Main and Düsseldorf in the coming years. “This is why we are significantly increasing investments in our network,” German President Serene Gopalan said on Monday. “As already announced in February, by 2024 from about 1.5 billion euros currently to about 2.5 billion annually just for optical fiber expansion.”
By 2025, a total of 10 million homes and corporate sites will be connected directly to Telekom’s fiber optic network. In Hamburg, Telekom wants to establish about 540,000 calls, 375,000 in Frankfurt and 160,000 in Düsseldorf. Additionally, there are around 600,000 connections to be established in Berlin by that time. In the long term, the group aims to have a nationwide supply of optical fibers by 2030.
Good conditions
Telekom sees good pre-requisites for expansion into major cities, as there is already infrastructure such as empty channels that could be used. “We are counting on non-bureaucratic expansion using alternative methods and digital approval processes,” Gopalan said. Local authorities also support expansion. “The mayor and the administration are very helpful and very committed.” The cornerstone of the Hamburg expansion is slated to take place in the afternoon.
Telekom also wants to expand its fiber optic range to more rural areas. With support from the federal government and the states, the company said, nearly 150,000 calls were established in deprived rural areas last year. This year, another 200,000 will be added. “In addition, there are a large number of houses that we built ourselves,” Gopalan said. “Overall, we want to provide fiber optic connections to more than three million households in rural areas by the end of 2025.”
(vbr)