•O  ptimisation of the synergy offered by funding programmes, especially by properly linking the federal broadband funding guidelines with the joint task Improving Regional Economic Structures (Verbesserung der regionalen Wirtschaftsstruktur: GRW) relating to broadband connections for manufacturing and business centres. •A  gigabit roundtable with all parties concerned: telecommunications providers, the Federation, the federal states and local governments, business and associations must develop joint strategies in order to make gigabit networks possible in Germany. •T  he step-by-step development of the “last mile” with cheap and quickly scalable gigabit networks: because commercial enterprises in particular require viable networks now, connecting companies to gigabit networks must be given top priority. • F acilitating the planning and construction of gigabit networks: in order to accelerate gigabit network expansion, procedures must be simplified, lengthy planning processes must be sped up and construction costs reduced. Some ways to approach this are provided by the DigiNetz Act, a law for the implementation of the European directive on reducing costs. Specific examples include cost-effective installation methods, such as micro-trenching, above-ground cable installation, sharing of energy and transportation infrastructure. • I t is imperative that Europe take a leading role in the implementation of the next generation of mobile radio networks (5G). For this to happen, the right strategy must be determined for development and standardisation. This could be achieved for example by involving German companies in boards that set standards. • I nvestment and innovation must be taken into consideration in legislation and regulatory frameworks: the approach to competition on which regulation is based must be focussed more strongly on investment, innovation and growth. Businesses must be motivated to take investment risks. In order to do this, new approaches to access and rate regulation must be developed and applied. We will develop recommendations based on discussions on digital regulatory frameworks and introduce them into the telecommunications review process in Brussels. In addition, the broadband guidelines issued by the European Commission must be updated. Current regulations hinder investments in gigabit networks. •B  olstering current investment activity in rural areas, for example by providing better information to residents, companies and government agencies regarding the benefits of digitisation. www.de.digital 15