Around a year ago, 1&1 signed an agreement with Deutsche Telekom (DT), allowing its affiliate 1&1 Versatel to use DT’s FTTH and VDSL networks for the next 10 years. Included within the contract was a clause allowing for the expansion of this agreement to allow 1&1 to directly market its FTTH products in future when such services were ready…

Around a year ago, 1&1 signed an agreement with Deutsche Telekom (DT), allowing its affiliate 1&1 Versatel to use DT’s FTTH and VDSL networks for the next 10 years. Included within the contract was a clause allowing for the expansion of this agreement to allow 1&1 to directly market its FTTH products in future when such services were ready. 

Now, such an expansion is coming to pass, with DT making all of its direct fibre optic connections available to 1&1 as a direct wholesale customer, having overcame the necessary regulatory hurdles.

The first FTTH product contract has been signed, allowing 1&1 to offer its own FTTH products to consumers using Telekom’s infrastructure with immediate effect. 

“This contract is another clear signal to the market. We come to an agreement without regulation and create fair conditions. We stand for free access to our networks. And we expect other companies to commit to this principle of Open Access just like Telekom,” said Dr Kerstin Baumgart, SVP of Deutsche Telekom’s wholesale business. “Millions of people and companies benefit from sharing our network. That’s good for Germany. Telekom is Germany’s fibre optic company. Nationwide cooperation is a mainstay of our strategy. All sides benefit from this partnership: we make greater use of our network, our marketing partner gets a greater reach and the customers have a variety of providers.”

Telekom notes that it is aiming to have roughly 10 million FTTH connections by the end of 2024.

The move comes as part of the German regulator, Bundesnetzagentur’s, decision in 2021 to regulate fibre networks less strictly than the industry’s previous copper iterations, hoping to create an environment in which fibre rollouts can expand rapidly across the country. 

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