Axians: Fast internet is a right, but availability varies

Axians Deutschland highlights that fast internet is increasingly becoming a right for Germans, but its actual availability varies significantly between urban and rural areas.

Germany's revised Telecommunications Act, passed in April 2021, grants citizens a legal right to fast internet. "Fast" is currently defined as a minimum download speed of 20 to 30 Mbit/s, with the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) overseeing compliance. If connections remain slow, citizens can lodge complaints, potentially leading to the agency mandating broadband deployment, funded by network operators and government subsidies.

However, the reality on the ground reveals persistent issues with slow internet, especially in rural regions. The Federal Broadband Atlas indicates that only 16.7 percent of rural households had access to a gigabit network by mid-2020, compared to 74.6 percent in urban centers. This disparity underscores the ongoing need for fiber network expansion.

Internationally, Germany lags in fiber optic infrastructure deployment. According to OECD data from December 2020, only 5.4 percent of all broadband connections in Germany were fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP), ranking the country fifth-to-last among 38 member nations.

The situation is showing improvement. An analysis by the BREKO industry association shows that the proportion of FTTP connections relative to all German households and businesses rose to 17.7 percent by the end of 2020. Forecasts predict a substantial increase in fiber connections in the coming years, indicating an acceleration in network build-out.