Vodafone Germany leans into fibre infrastructure sharing to reach 11m

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The operator says it will soon be able to offer fibre optic broadband to more than 11 million homes and businesses across the country

Vodafone Germany is set to offer its fibre broadband packages to 11 million premises across the country, a move it says will make it the largest fibre network in the country.

The expansion comes via the implementation of new infrastructure sharing partnerships with Deutsche Telekom and Deutsche Glasfaser, which will increase Vodafone’s commercial reach by 9.5 million premises.

These new potential connections will be in addition to the more than half a million homes covered by Vodafone’s own fibre network.

Concurrently, OXG Glasfaser – Vodafone’s fibre joint venture with Altice that was set up last year – is also pushing ahead with its fibre rollout, reaching 1.3 million premises.

OXG has pledged to invest up to €7 billion through to 2029 as it aims to pass 7 million homes.

“In 2019, we launched Germany’s largest gigabit network and thus got the fiber optic expansion in this country underway. Today we are taking the next step and connecting the largest unified fiber optic network for our customers,” said Marcel de Groot, CEO of Vodafone Germany. “We are digging ourselves and with our expansion partners from OXG. And we are sharing infrastructure to increase competition and the range of services for people – even without superstructure.”

Vodafone says it will continue to expand its own fibre network directly by working with districts, municipalities, cities, and communities across the country.

This announcement has largely been received positively, with industry association VATM noting in a statement that it will offer some customers the choice of multiple broadband providers for the first time. VATM’s managing director Frederic Ufer, however, remained critical of Deutsche Telekom’s role in the market, blaming them for slowing down nation fibre efforts.

“We are pleased that competition in the fiber-optic market is being strengthened. Such partnerships successfully drive the topic forward in the interests of the #Anbietervielfalt and thus also for the benefit of consumers,” said Ufer in a translated LinkedIn post. “Unfortunately, Deutsche Telekom is still lagging years behind with its technical possibilities and business models and can offer Vodafone and the market bitstream, but still does not buy it sensibly from other expanding companies, which continues to slow down the expansion,”

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