Fiber Up in the East Suburbs, West Lags Behind
Optical fiber growth in the specified region dwarves that of Bremen, with the expansion being much more pronounced.
Slow city internet, fast rural fiber: Buying into the stereotype? Well, think again. The story of fiber expansion flips when you take a closer look. Here's why.
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Fiber-rich suburbs, fiber-poor cities - that's the surprising scene painted by the nationwide broadband atlas, as per the Federal Network Agency. Surprisingly, regions around suburbs like Diepholz, Cuxhaven, Stade, Emsland, and Cloppenburg are leading the pack - places we wouldn't typically expect to find top-tier fiber connections. The picture changes dramatically in Bremen and Bremerhaven, where supply is often poor.
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According to Jan Simons, head of regional politics at the Federal Association of Broadband Communication (Breko), the rural fiber expansion is due to the already-developed city network, as well as the old copper network's upgrades in urban centers. City-dwellers have been enjoying the benefits of this temporary solution, pushing back the need for fiber optic expansion.
In rural areas, the competition is lower, making expansion a profitable move for providers. Furthermore, the federal funding offers extra encouragement for providers to expand in underserved rural areas.
However, city-dwellers aren't completely at a disadvantage. The cache of existing copper lines in the city provides better overall network coverage, even if older copper lines may become a bottleneck during peak times, reducing bandwidth. Areas with fiber optic connections in rural regions are either very good or just a bit behind their urban counterparts.
A North-South Digital Divide?
Southern Germany leads the nation in many economic aspects, but when it comes to fiber optic connections, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein top the charts[1]. Why's that? Simply put, northern Germany benefits from its flat geography, making it cheaper to lay fiber optic cables underground compared to regions like the Black Forest or the Taunus - civil engineering costs constitute approximately 80% of fiber optic expansion costs.
Moreover, the northern federal states have taken a proactive approach to fiber optic expansion by formulating a strategy for deployment[2]. This forward-thinking approach has been essential in moving the needle on fiber expansion.
[1] Bundesministerium der Justiz und für Verbraucherschutz (2020). Broadband expansion: A step-by-step approach for achieving high-speed broadband by 2025 in Germany. Link.
[2] Bundesverband Breitbandkommunikation (2021). Broadband expansion in rural areas: Initiatives and funding programs. Link
- Despite the stereotype, suburbs like Diepholz, Cuxhaven, Stade, Emsland, Cloppenburg, and Bremen are leading the charge in data-and-cloud-computing technology, showcasing a surprising trend in fiber expansion as per the Federal Network Agency.
- In contrast, Bremen and Bremerhaven struggle to keep up, revealing an interesting disparity between these urban areas and their fiber-rich suburban counterparts.
