With pressure for progress apparent at the EU level, the German Government is advocating BNetzA picks up the pace in setting a framework for the country’s transition to fibre
The Federal Ministry for Digital and State Modernisation set out its vision for copper retirement
On 2 October 2025, the German Federal Ministry for Digital and State Modernisation (BMDS) opened a consultation on principles to guide the copper retirement process. The Government’s consultation follows on from, and in part responds to, the discussion paper published by BNetzA in April 2025 that outlined the regulatory framework for copper retirement under the Telecommunications Act. In publishing its own paper, the BMDS seeks to offer further transparency and clearer expectations for the process, while aiming to resolve informational asymmetries between former incumbent Deutsche Telekom and potential investors in fibre infrastructure. Under the Telecommunications Act, Deutsche Telekom is responsible for publicising a plan for retirement that is governed by the regulatory conditions enforced by BNetzA, which it has yet to do. The Government, through a broader statement of principles on the migration, is aiming to establish greater certainty on that governance, including by considering if further legislation is needed to guide retirement. The consultation on the BMDS’s paper will remain open until 14 November 2025.
The BMDS does not see the EU’s 2030 target for retirement as feasible, citing a projected start date no earlier than 2028
The BMDS notes that, while current projections estimate that copper retirement is unlikely to start before 2028 and likely to finish between 2035 and 2040, the framework governing the process should incentivise faster progress, especially considering the expected economic benefits of shutting down the copper network. Beyond this imperative for accelerating migration, the Government also highlights three key objectives it will pursue through its involvement in the process:
Providing consumers with choice in selecting an uninterrupted supply of connectivity offered at a reasonable price;
Maintaining the existing level of competition in that supply of services; and
Offering the necessary level of transparency to all stakeholders relevant to the retirement process.
Though the Government recognises the shutdown target of 2030 under consideration by the EC in the context of the forthcoming Digital Networks Act (DNA), it states this deadline is not feasible in Germany. Instead, the Government emphasises its support for encouraging voluntary migration, including through a public awareness campaign called “The best internet” it launched in September 2025. The BMDS expects the migration to proceed regionally, based on fibre rollout progress as well as take-up, without the need for a nationwide switch-off date.
The Government is advocating for BNetzA to require Deutsche Telekom to produce its copper retirement plan ASAP
Regarding protecting competition through the switch-off, the BMDS advocates that BNetzA takes competing fibre networks into consideration when determining where coverage is sufficient to facilitate copper retirement. The Government discusses the potential for Deutsche Telekom as the former incumbent to unfairly preserve its copper network in areas where competing fibre networks have been built, which could disincentivise further investment. The BMDS therefore recommends a “rules-based” migration procedure established by BNetzA and potentially acknowledged at the EU level within the DNA. Such rules would include obligations for altnet providers to meet access requirements if their networks are counted within the coverage that allows for retirement and would be based around a three-year notice period between coverage obligations being met and services being retired. Before these rules could take effect, however, the Government also proposes that BNetzA require Deutsche Telekom to submit a comprehensive plan for copper retirement in the near-term, again citing concerns with information asymmetry in the market. The regulator has previously refused to require the operator to submit its plans within a given timeframe, arguing that a complete and reliable plan would provide the necessary transparency whenever it is delivered. The BMDS instead finds that uncertainty has grown in the three years since BNetzA made that determination and further delay could jeopardise investment in fibre networks. Considering Germany’s laggard status among other Member States pursuing copper retirement and the pressure from the EC to see copper switched off within the decade, the Government appears ready to prompt the regulator and the former incumbent into at least communicating its plans soon.
