While the Austrian mobile telephone networks are achieving very good figures in an international comparison, there is a need to catch up in the field of fast fiber optic fixed network connections. The network operators A1 and Drei want to change that with a new fiber partnership and bring hundreds of thousands of households into the gigabit era. However, the demand is still meager. And the competition doesn’t sleep either…
The alliance between A1 and Drei symbolizes a “paradigm shift,” A1 boss Marcus Grausam told krone.at. Recent years with the pandemic and rapid digitization have shown how important a fast digital infrastructure is. A1 has installed about 67,000 kilometers of fiber optic lines in Austria. There are access points in 95 percent of the communities. In the future, three customers will also be able to surf on the A1 fiber optic network.
200,000 new connections planned per year
About 600,000 households have so far been directly connected to the A1 fiber optic network – in technical jargon this is called “Fiber to the Home” (FTTH). This year, 500 million euros will be invested in further expansion and from now on about 200,000 households will be connected annually.
Where exactly the expansion is pushed will depend on government funding decisions. Given the well-developed state capitals, Grausam expects fiber optic cables to be installed now, especially in the more densely populated district capitals.
Demand has been quite moderate so far
The problem that A1 and other providers face: Connections that enable gigabit speeds are often not used as much as possible by households. According to the Telekom authority RTR, only 190,000 of the total 950,000 fiber connections are used.
The new alliance aims to boost moderate demand, says Drei boss Rudolf Schrefl. The fact that several companies are now using the infrastructure together is a “unique opportunity for Austria” and increases capacity utilization and competition. It is true that Drei – previously mainly known as a mobile operator – has been increasingly active in fixed network connections since the takeover of provider Tele2 and also offers regional gigabit connections. The alliance with A1 significantly expands the target group, emphasizes Schrefl.
calls for demand stimulation
Especially for small and medium-sized businesses in rural areas, the fiber alliance represents a “huge leap forward”, says Schrefl – pointing to the potential of digitalization to overcome the crisis in the energy market. To stimulate demand, Grausam and Schrefl advocate incentives and demand stimulation, as is the case in some other European countries.
One reason for the lagging demand: the well-developed mobile network is a strong competition for fixed connections in this country. About 1.4 million households are online with LTE or 5G routers, says Grausam.
Gigabit internet has been extremely expensive so far
For many users, the bandwidth requirement is simply not high enough: the most popular internet rates are around 30 to 50 euros per month. For fiber with high data speeds you pay significantly more: Drei charges no less than 200 euros per month for its current “GigaNet” rate.
Download speeds in the 100 megabits per second range are the most popular right now. You don’t necessarily need a fiber optic connection for this: up to 500 megabits – depending on the distance to the distribution node, sometimes combined with mobile communication – are also possible via DSL lines.
Heavy users in particular rely on fiberglass
If you only surf and stream, you can get by with the speeds that are already achievable. However, the situation is sometimes different for heavy users: gamers who value fast response times (“ping”) and fast downloads are just as much a potential fiber audience as entrepreneurs and home office workers who need fast upload speeds to interact with the corporate network.
Other applications that require extremely fast internet connections are already waiting in the wings. In the business environment, autonomous drones or vehicles will depend on high-speed networks. For private users, high data rates and fast response times will determine cloud gaming or virtual reality applications in the “metaverse”, the two administrators expect.
Magenta is also working on a fiber partnership
Not only them, by the way: rival Magenta wants to present its own fiber partnership with a “renowned European investor” on Tuesday and thus contribute, like A1 and Drei, to the federal government’s broadband strategy. This ensures that fiber connections with gigabit data speeds will be offered nationwide by 2030. In 2026, 1.4 billion euros will be spent on this.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
