Everyone wants faster internet. Or maybe not? Although the supply of fiber optic connections across Germany has increased significantly in the past half year, the demand for corresponding contracts decreased compared to 2019, such as Heise reported.
600,000 new connections by summer 2020
The industry association VATM announced in one official press release, that the 2. Gigabit study on behalf of DIALOG Consult and VATM, there were more than 600,000 new fiber optic connections in Germany for the first half of 2020.
According to a current forecast, 50 percent of all German households should be provided with broadband internet via cable or FFTB / H by summer 2020 – this corresponds to a total of 19.25 million connections (thereof 4.75 million with fiber optics).
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The study also revealed other interesting results:
- The number of connections with gigabit speed will increase by around 33 percent in the first half of 2020.
- 92 percent of broadband connections come from Telekom's competitors.
- Customers use a third of the available fiber connections (1.65 million from 4.75 million).
Take-up rate still too low
However, the increasing supply is offset by a lower demand: Because the total share of actually booked Gigabit connections drops according to the study compared to 2019 from 24.8 percent to 22.8 percent. Martin Witt, President of VATM, criticizes the take-up rate being too low and suggests a solution:
"We (…) proposed a digitization bonus for the expansion, which would benefit citizens who are willing to connect. (…) Bringing more citizens per expansion kilometer to the network is the only successful way, since we are not arbitrary due to limited construction capacities able to build more kilometers. Ultimately, the investment of all private providers depends on the best possible take-up rate. "
Many customers do not yet take advantage of the opportunity to book a broadband connection – even less than in the previous year.
Another downside: Despite the successes in accelerating broadband expansion, Prof. Dr. Torsten Gerpott, scientific advisory board for DIALOG Consult, the comprehensive gigabit supply is not yet within reach by 2025.
