From June 1st, everyone should have a connection to download data from the Internet at a speed of ten megabits per second and upload it at 1.5 megabits.
(Photo: imago images / Cavan Images)
Berlin The Federal Network Agency has proposed what the future right to high-speed internet will look like in the future: From June 1, everyone should have a connection to download data from the internet at a speed of ten megabits per second and at 1.5 Upload megabits. And all of this with a delay of no more than 150 milliseconds.
The Bonn authority is reacting to the new telecommunications law, which has been in force since December and provides for a right to high-speed internet. “Voice communication services and a fast Internet access service must at least be available for appropriate social and economic participation,” it says.
Internet abstinence should come to an end for the few households in remote regions who do not yet have a network. How exactly, the debate initiated by the federal authority on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Digital Affairs is intended to clarify.
The proposed proposal seems to have a majority within the new federal government. “The minimum entry conditions can be compared with the minimum wage,” said SPD parliamentary group vice-president Detlef Müller to the Handelsblatt. “There is an ongoing evaluation, and we already know today that the data bandwidths will increase.”
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The federal states also seem satisfied. You have to agree to the plan. In the Rhineland-Palatinate digital ministry, for example, it was said that the universal service was a “temporary solution” and only applied “to a very small part of the population”.
The head of the Federal Network Agency, Jochen Homann, emphasized that the proposed values are “only a first milestone”. He expects “that the development will take a dynamic course and thus reflect technological advances”. According to its own admission, the agency commissioned three reports “in preparation for the statutory ordinance”, “in order to get closer to the technical parameters”.
According to the network agency, minimum download rates in a European comparison are between one and ten megabits per second – and the trend is rising, for example in Sweden, Switzerland and Slovenia. The UK has a minimum transfer rate of ten megabits per second.
Minimum access should not be the standard
“Ten megabits per second are the minimum that should be available everywhere in Germany,” said Stephan Albers, managing director of the Breko branch association. It should not be misunderstood as a standard.
The overriding goal continues to be “to achieve nationwide coverage with significantly more powerful, future-proof fiber optic connections – as the new federal government also provides in its coalition agreement”. The focus continues to be on self-commercial and subsidized network expansion.
In future, a network provider may be required by the Federal Network Agency to offer a universal service in a certain region. The industry shares the costs for this through a fund. How high they turn out to be depends largely on the specifications. If they were at download rates of 50 megabits per second, then this could only be achieved with expensive cables.
Ten megabits, however, can be achieved via satellite or mobile communications. At the same time, this ensures that “no planning and construction capacities are withdrawn from the ongoing expansion of the fiber optic networks”, Albers praised the option.
The Association of Telecommunications and Value Added Services Providers (VATM) also agreed. “Rapid digitization assistance can only be provided by radio or satellite,” said President David Zimmer. SPD parliamentary group vice Mueller said how the companies ensure the universal services will be shown, but: “There will also have to be satellite solutions.”
Fiber optic connections continue to be in short supply
According to the Federal Network Agency, the network operators invested almost 20 percent more in the expansion in 2019 and 2020 and came to 10.8 billion euros. More than 62 percent of households were able to book gigabit connections, and almost nine out of ten households were able to use at least 100 megabits per second. Pure fiber optic connections are only available for 7.5 million end customers.
The authority sees “still a lot of catching up to do” here. It remains “the goal of all players to continue to drive the nationwide expansion of gigabit networks,” said agency president Homann. Accordingly, the decision on the right to universal service should be made “with a sense of proportion”.
In the future, the new digital minister Volker Wissing (FDP) will watch over what fast internet means. The responsibility for the rules of the game in the telecommunications market, which has been shared since 2013, is finally moving from the Ministry of Economics to the Ministry of Transport with the new government. So after eight years they are reunited in one house. The ministry has therefore been given the addition of digital.
According to the Telecommunications Act, the ministry has to review the stipulated requirements for the universal service annually and inform the Bundestag’s transport committee. The network agency is responsible for the task.
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