Germany is catching up with regard to the number of households having broad band internet access. In the meantime fifty percent of all households are equipped with such fast internet access. Thus, the number of households having broad band internet access has quadrupled since the year 2003. According to the German Association for Information Management, Telecommunications and New Media (BITKOM), by the end of the year 2008 about 23 million households in Germany (58%) will have broad band internet access.
Currently Germany ranks 8th in Europe with regard to the number of broad band internet which is well above the European average. The ranking in question in based on data provided by Eurostat, the European Statistical Office.
As of the end of the year 2007, about 96 percent of all broad band internet access points were based on DSL technology. However, in 2007 the operators of cable networks could also win many new customers for broad band access. Furthermore, in many regions they improved their networks and equipped them with broad band technology.
Following the success of the DSL technology, mobile internet access is becoming increasingly popular as well. By the end of last year there were, according to BITKOM, for the first time more than 10 million UMTS access users in Germany. This year this number is expected to increase by 60% to almost 16 million.
However, in Germany there are still about 800 communities in which broad band is accessible by via satellite only. In order to remedy this lack, there is the necessity to have additional frequencies below 1 GHz, says BITKOM. Only this frequency range made it possible to provide cost-efficient fast internet access to large rural areas. These frequencies are currently not used but not made available by broad casting stations, criticises BITKOM. 