The basis for a future-proof digital infrastructure is a comprehensive fiber optic network right into the homes (FTTH), which can be achieved most quickly through self-financing expansion. Glasfaser Nordwest, a joint venture between Telekom Deutschland GmbH and EWE AG, has set itself the task of connecting up to 1.5 million households and companies in northwest Germany to the modern fiber optic network by 2027 without bundling demand. The city of Bremen is one of the numerous expansion areas throughout the northwest. Glasfaser Nordwest had already started expanding the infrastructure in the Hanseatic city in 2020, the year it was founded. With a total of 37 expansion projects and a volume of more than 165,000 connections, the well-advanced infrastructure expansion in Bremen is a very special project for Glasfaser Nordwest. Around 434 kilometers of distribution network are already underground in Bremen. This year alone, Glasfaser Nordwest has significantly increased the pace of expansion. 16 Bremen areas will start building distribution networks in 2024. But that’s not all. With the announcement of the two areas of Bremen Oberneuland and Bremen Fesenfeld Hulsberg, the fiber optic expansion will continue to gain momentum in 2024. With a total expansion volume of almost 25,000 fiber optic connections, the Bremen Oberneuland and Bremen Fesenfeld Hulsberg areas are each among the most extensive expansion projects that Glasfaser Nordwest will implement since its founding.
Glasfaser Nordwest managing director Andreas Mayer is convinced: “A comprehensive supply of modern fiber optics has been one of our most important common goals, not least since the cooperation agreement with the city of Bremen last year. With the announcement of the two new expansion projects, we are taking a giant step towards a more efficient digital infrastructure in the Weser city. In total, with the expansion, we have around 165,000 households and company locations that are currently in the middle of planning, expansion or have already been completed, and we also see further potential in the Hanseatic city that can be exploited on a self-financing basis. This makes the city of Bremen an important location for us. I would like to thank the city of Bremen again for the trust it has placed in us and look forward to continuing to work closely together to strengthen the self-financing fiber optic expansion in the city.”
Maike Frese, State Councillor for Economic Affairs at the Senator for Economic Affairs, Ports and Transformation in the City of Bremen, is also pleased about the expansion of Glasfaser Nordwest: “Glasfaser Nordwest has established itself as a reliable partner in Bremen. The expansion by a further 25,000 connections underlines the rapid progress of the fiber optic expansion in our city. This will give even more households and companies access to the modern fiber optic network and benefit from a wide selection of providers and products. I am confident that by working closely together we can further accelerate the nationwide expansion and thus make a decisive contribution to the digitalization of Bremen.”
Since Glasfaser Nordwest was founded in 2020, the joint venture has stood for an open network that is available to all telecommunications companies on a non-discriminatory basis and on equal terms, in addition to its own economic infrastructure expansion. Thanks to the open access network, citizens and companies benefit from an ever-increasing choice of providers and products. In the future, interested residents in the new expansion areas will be able to orient themselves to their own needs and choose between different tariffs from the open access marketing partners Telekom, SWB and 1&1.
About Glasfaser Nordwest
The company Glasfaser Nordwest was founded at the beginning of 2020 as a joint venture between Telekom Deutschland GmbH and EWE AG. The joint venture, based on the parity principle, is taking over the self-financing FTTH expansion in large parts of the northwest. Glasfaser Nordwest is responsible for the expansion decision and coordination as well as the operation of the network. The joint venture wants to reach up to 1.5 million households and company locations with fiber optics and will invest up to two billion euros for this. This new infrastructure will be made available to the entire telecommunications market on a non-discriminatory basis. In addition to Telekom and EWE, the network is already being used by other telecommunications providers – further cooperations are to follow in the future. This opening of the network to other market participants ensures that people in the northwest have more freedom in choosing their telecommunications provider.
