Telekom has been upgrading its own copper cable infrastructure for a long time and has therefore started the expansion of fiber optics relatively late.
(Photo: Reuters)
Deutsche Telekom has won an investor for the fiber optic expansion: According to Handelsblatt information, the Dax group wants to set up a joint venture with the Australian IFM fund to finance the infrastructure for several million households over the next few years.
When asked, Telekom did not comment on the subject. A confirmation could, however, already be given on Friday: The group invites you to a press conference with a “fiber optic update”, in which it should be about cooperations. The news agency Reuters first reported on the partnership with the infrastructure investor.
This brings the negotiations with several investors, about which the Handelsblatt reported last week, to a conclusion. In addition to IFM, Brookfield and CDPQ also showed interest. The joint venture is expected to invest around six billion euros in new connections by 2028, reported several people familiar with the matter.
Telekom has been upgrading its own copper cable infrastructure for a long time and therefore started the fiber optic expansion relatively late, but is now planning massive investments. In the current year 1.3 to 1.4 million households are to be connected, by 2024 the number is expected to rise to 2.5 million. That should cost billions of euros.
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At the Capital Market Day in May, Telekom boss Timotheus Höttges emphasized that the company did not have to own the entire infrastructure – it would become a “network orchestrator”, a kind of conductor for the telecommunications network. “This gives us a greater range. This gives us a bigger market, ”he emphasized.
Pilot project with EWE Tel
In a pilot project with EWE Tel, it was planned to develop 1.5 million households in Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Bremen. However, the project has stalled due to lawsuits from competitors.
Cooperations such as with EWE Tel and IFM enable the network to be expanded without further debt. Following the takeover of Sprint in the USA, the company’s liabilities are higher than ever at 128 billion euros and are above the corridor that management has set. A substantial improvement is only planned for 2024.
More: The fiber optic expansion in Germany needs donors beyond the Telekom