German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom has received conditional regulatory approval from the country’s federal network agency to upgrade its existing infrastructure of copper wires to deliver high speed Internet access, on the condition that the company’s competitors also receive access to the new technology in areas where alternative networks are not currently available.
Using a transmission method known as vectoring, which helps to reduce interference between lines in cable distribution boxes and increase bandwidth performance, Deutsche Telekom hopes increase current speeds of 16 megabits per second to 100 Mbit/s.
However, the upgrade is a temporary solution. As much as 80 billion euros ($104 billion) is needed to establish a fiber optic network in Germany in the next 20-25 years, a cost that will need to be shared between local telecommunications operators, said Reuters. Deutsche Telekom currently controls more than 40 percent of the broadband market.
