What's causing the internet sluggishness in Germany?
In the digital age, Germany finds itself grappling with slow and unstable internet connections, particularly in regions like Saxony and Thuringia, where only about half of households and companies have fibre optic access. Around 40 percent of companies in these areas report poor internet connectivity, posing significant challenges to business processes.
The sluggish rollout of high-speed broadband in Germany is due to a combination of complex infrastructural, financial, and regulatory challenges. No single company is explicitly named as the culprit, but regional providers like Duisburg CityCom (DCC) actively provide fast fiber-optic broadband. The federal government and Deutsche Bahn AG are involved in infrastructure expansion efforts, but the slow pace of development is partly due to budget decisions and delays.
Germany ranks 57th worldwide for fixed broadband internet speed, with an average download speed of 98.33 Mbps, according to the Speedtest Global Index as of August this year. This is significantly lower than the median fixed broadband speed of 394.30 Mbps in top-ranking Singapore.
The issue of slow connections is not just limited to businesses. Improving connections for individual buildings and houses, especially in rural areas, is a long, drawn-out process. As of March 2024, only about 34.2 percent of Berliners had access to fibre connections, with full coverage in the capital now projected for 2028.
The northern federal states of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, and Bremen report the fewest complaints, with only 23 percent of companies feeling significantly restricted. This could be due to the greater fibre optic network in these regions - there is around 90 percent coverage in Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, and nearly 80 percent in Bremen.
There is evidence suggesting that the issue may be the result of unfair business practices by major providers like Deutsche Telekom, such as creating artificial bottlenecks and favoring more expensive services. In May 2025, an alliance filed an official complaint against Deutsche Telekom with Germany's Federal Network Agency, alleging that these practices violate European net neutrality laws.
Germany's slow internet speeds stem primarily from a lack of investment in broadband infrastructure over decades. In the early 2000s, Deutsche Telekom doubled down on DSL because it allowed the transmission of more data through pre-existing copper telephone wires, delaying the transition to fibre optics.
Despite these challenges, Germany excels internationally in areas like internet affordability and digital security, securing first place overall in the Digital Quality of Life Index 2024. The German government launched a major push to accelerate the rollout of fibre optic cables in Germany in 2016, aiming to meet its goal of 50 percent fibre optic availability across the country by the end of 2025. However, the overall rate of growth is slowing, and targets for full coverage by 2030 are at risk without clear political commitment.
The 2024 survey by Deloitte found that fibre optic cables are widely associated with higher costs, and most people in Germany are satisfied with their existing broadband providers, despite frequent signal failures. This suggests that while Germany is making progress, there is still much work to be done to improve internet speeds and connectivity across the country.
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