BNetzA’s non-binding guidelines aim to reduce negotiation costs for network builders and access seekers, while ensuring a sufficient margin between wholesale and retail fibre prices
The consultation seeks to facilitate fair and reasonable access to regional fibre networks
On 22 September 2026, Germany’s Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) published a two-month consultation on guidelines for determining wholesale prices for open access fibre networks. With more than 200 companies investing in fibre in Germany, many on a regional basis, access seekers must negotiate with various network operators, resulting in high transaction costs. BNetzA described its guidance on pricing principles as a key “building block” for promoting open access on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms. The guidance would be non-binding, and BNetzA stressed that voluntary negotiated terms remain preferable to decisions made by the regulator. However, a draft amendment to the Telecommunications Act (TKG) currently before Parliament would empower BNetzA to publish reasonable access conditions and to impose them in the event of a dispute, with the regulator noting that this consultation could inform that process.
Wholesale charges should provide for a sufficient margin on retail prices
Rather than setting fixed prices, BNetzA proposes a “top-down” approach, where wholesale prices would be set at a discount from the network builder’s own effective retail price. The margin between the two prices would have to be large enough for an efficient access seeker to cover its downstream costs, such as sales and marketing, as well as technical network costs for data transmission and establishing connectivity. Based on existing voluntary contracts and retail prices for fixed broadband and telephony bundles, BNetzA has identified two potential approaches for wholesale pricing (albeit without stating a preference for one over the other):
Portfolio approach: A 32% margin across all bandwidth classes from 100Mbps up to 1Gbps; and
Per-bandwidth approach: A two-part margin of €5 (£4.30) plus 20% of the effective retail price.
BNetzA notes that having voluntary guidelines would protect investment, as operators would remain free to set retail prices. However, the approach assumes retail prices stay competitive, and BNetzA may consider measures to ensure this remains the case after copper is switched off.
The guidance builds on BNetzA’s existing regulatory approach to copper-to-fibre migration
The proposals build on the regulatory framework for copper-to-fibre migration published by BNetzA in January 2026, under which copper can only be retired in an area once coverage thresholds are met. This includes minimum fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) coverage of 80% of all homes and businesses, and the availability of suitable wholesale open access offers for access seekers. The guidelines would only apply to voluntary access on networks built by Deutsche Telekom’s competitors. BNetzA considers that Deutsche Telekom still holds significant market power (SMP), meaning that it has existing obligations to grant competitors access to both its copper and fibre networks, and to offer certain wholesale products (typically on transparent, non-discriminatory and price controlled terms).
