Deutsche Telekom is spending €1.1 billion to roll out fibre across the 179 cities and municipalities of the Stuttgart region as well as strengthening its LTE network.
The project is set to begin early next year and will also be backed with €500 million of public funding.
The initial target is to supply FTTH to 90 percent of buildings within business parks. By 2025, half of the region’s households, and all business parks and schools will be connected to the technology. By 2030, Deutsche Telekom is aiming to pass 1.24 million households and almost 140,000 businesses with fibre. In total, almost three million people will be connected.
Dirk Wössner, Member of the Management Board at Deutsche Telekom responsible for business in Germany, said: “Together with the five surrounding districts, Stuttgart has one of the strongest, most innovative regional economies in Europe. A fast data network is the basic infrastructure for digitalisation.
“We will put our shoulders to the wheel to make the region a flagship and prove that their trust in us is not misplaced. We will shape the future of the region together – and I’m looking forward to it.”
[Read more: Deutsche Telekom partners with EWE on €2bn fibre JV, upgrades copper network]
He added the network will be made available to other operators “at fair market conditions” but cautioned that regulation should not hold back the implementation of fibre.
The operator said it was also planning on building an unspecified number of new LTE base stations and promised Stuttgart would be one of the first regions of Germany to receive 5G.
It will also open a project office to manage the implementation of both fixed and cellular tech and provide a point of presence for local companies and start-ups.
The fibre rollout builds upon its existing plans to install more than 11,000 kilometres of optical fibre, with 60,000 kilometres to be added during 2018.