Optic Fibre: Boosting Connectivity in German Rural Areas
Germany accelerates growth of its fibre network with 300,000 additional homes to be connected.
Germany is building up its infrastructure transformation with the roll-out of a new Fibre-to-the-Home project. In the next years, an additional 300,000 homes will be equipped with optic fibre,increasing connectivity across the country, especially in rural areas.
The project, with positive impact on the country, is driven by Deutsche Glasfaser, a leading provider of "Fibre to the Home" services in Germany, who owns and operates one of the largest open networks in the country. With a 200,000 strong client-base, the company provides retail customers and B2B clients in rural areas with ultra-high-speed broadband connectivity. It offers all services from constructing and operating the passive infrastructure to delivering Internet, TV and telephone services to end-customers.
Societe Generale is leading the financing of the €650m project as mandated lead arranger, along with other financial partners, enabling Deutsche Glasfaser to take full advantage of the growth in the German fibre market and accelerate the roll-out of its network in the country.
As part of its long-standing relationship with Deutsche Glasfaser and its co-owner-company KKR, Societe Generale’s Technology & Media Telecom (TMT) experts, hand in hand with the Infrastructure finance teams, were directly approached to participate in the operation.
Societe Generale's speed of execution as well as its significant knowledge in the fibre space was instrumental in succeeding this transaction. Thanks to this financing, we will accelerate the roll-out of our network in Germany and be at the forefront of the ultra-speed network revolution.
CFO, Deutsche Glasfaser
Participation in this transaction constitutes an important German credential in the rapidly expanding fibre-optic sector and strengthens Societe Generale's pioneer position as THE European fibre financing house. The project is the second German fibre financing venture for the bank, and follows a series of transactions in the European fibre space, such as the Plan France Très Haut Débit in France and several transactions in the Netherlands, Sweden and Italy to name just a few.
By providing innovative and efficient structured financing solutions to our clients such as Deutsche Glasfaser, we are proud to contribute to Germany’s acceleration in the fibre space. Better connectivity means also tangible and positive impact on the populations, especially in rural areas.
Group Country Head for Societe Generale in Germany