As we gear up for the latest edition of ANGA COM, Europe’s leading business platform for Broadband, Television, and Online, in Cologne (14-16 May 2024), all eyes will once again be on Europe’s leading economy and its lagging fibre coverage, relative to many of its neighbours and peers
At the recent FTTH Conference, also held in Germany (Berlin) this year, several German panellists bemoaned the state of their domestic market. But it’s not all bad news. With Germany’s FTTH coverage sitting at 40% in IDATE’s latest FTTH Market Panorama, 60% of the country still represents a massive market opportunity for operators, vendors, and municipalities alike.
Investment is available too – around €50B from the private sector and another €20B in state subsidies. Furthermore, according to one operator, there’s more fibre within 300 metres of the subscriber in Germany than anywhere else in Europe. So as long as it’s accessible, there’s the strong basis for finally turning “homes passed” into “homes activated”.
Germany, to a large extent, is standing in its own way, with four main factors stretching project timelines and squeezing return on investment (ROI):
- Poor subscriber take up rates – estimated at 25% by the FTTH Council.
- Lack of competition at a local level, compounded by overbuilding by large players.
- Archaic, often paper-based, permitting processes with multiple layers of approvals.
- Strict engineering rules, set at the local level, which add time and cost.
It’s for reasons like these that we’re seeing the emergence of new regulatory frameworks, such as The European Council’s Gigabit Infrastructure Act. This legislation promotes four measurements to streamline the deployment of digital connectivity:
- Shared use of infrastructure
- Co-deployment of civil works
- Streamlining administrative procedures
- Equipping buildings with high-speed ready infrastructure.
And when the time comes that network operators have overcome the main deployment challenges and are ready to build out the last mile, MicroDuct infrastructure allows them to meet their targets (and those of the Gigabit Infrastructure Act) better than any other form of passive infrastructure – both outside the home (Netzebene 3) and inside (Netzebene 4).
In NE3, a multi-path MicroDuct system can accommodate fibre for different applications, purposes, or even operators on the same route, such as FTTH, 5G, and public sector traffic. And with vacant pathways available for future capacity expansion, MicroDucts make “Dig Once” a reality – thereby avoiding overbuild and Germany’s strict engineering rules.
In NE4, MicroDucts can be routed from a communications cupboard all the way to each living unit, enabling end-to-end fibre jetting and seamless moves, adds, and changes (MACs). And with fire performance a critical consideration in buildings, Dura-Line is proud to offer best-in-class fire performance when tested to EN 13501-1, with our MicroDucts LSHF products achieving a ‘B, s1, d0’ rating when mounted on gypsum plasterboard.
Germany’s fibre backbone is strong enough to enable equally robust networks in NE3 and NE4. Unfortunately, bureaucracy and slow, old-fashioned processes are still standing in the way of progress. But even if we can’t rectify these problems in full, as long as we deploy the right passive infrastructure in the last mile, homes should be activated, and ROI should follow.