BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Federal Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger (CDU) is pushing for speed in the expansion of fiber optics and hopes that users will also participate. Fiber optic connections have already been installed in 19 of the more than 40 million households in the country. The expansion has now picked up speed, but only about one in four connections is actually being booked, he told the German Press Agency in Berlin.
"Telecommunications companies have a responsibility to better communicate the advantages of fiber optics, and we are creating the optimal conditions to further accelerate the expansion of digital infrastructure," he added.
In this context, Wildberger referred to the amendment to the Telecommunications Act recently passed by the Bundestag, which recognizes the expansion of telecommunications networks as being in the "overriding public interest." This has made it possible to shorten approval procedures, some of which take up to two years, to a few months, he said.
When asked how he would like to be measured in four years' time, the former manager said: "My goal is for us to take a big step forward in the expansion of digital infrastructures." Fiber optics is the technology of the future and offers decisive advantages such as higher speeds, greater capacity, lower latency (delays), and lower energy consumption.
According to a target set by the German government, fiber optics should be available nationwide by 2030./jr/DP/zb
