Deutsche Telekom and utility company EWE have announced the foundation of their new fiber joint venture 'Glasfaser Nordwest'.
The new company, whose head office will be in Oldenburg, Lower Saxony, aims to provide up to 1.5 million households and business locations with high-speed internet. Its foundation is the largest such move so far in the effort to build out fiber-optic infrastructure in Germany.
About 35 employees will be working at the company’s head office in Oldenburg. Christoph Meurer and Oliver Prostak were introduced as the new company’s top managers.
Glasfaser NordWest will be building out the network in parts of Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Bremen. The technology underlying the new connections will be fiber to the home (FTTH). The two parent companies expect to invest up to two billion euros in the effort over a ten-year period. The joint venture is set to remain in place indefinitely.
The company will make fiber-optic infrastructure available to all interested businesses under market-standard, non-discriminatory commercial arrangements. Fiber-optic lines will become available to the first customers in the build-out zone in 2020.
Dirk Wossner, CEO, Telekom Deutschland
One and a half million households and business premises are set to benefit from these two strong businesses joining forces. Glasfaser Nordwest is set to bring high-speed connectivity to the cities and across the countryside.
Stefan Dohler, CEO, EWE
As a result, Germany's northwest is set to take on a trailblazing role in the sector and lead the way into the digital transformation – Glasfaser Nordwest will be providing the infrastructure in that campaign, while we ensure that products can be freely selected.
