Checking fibre availability in Germany and ordering a building connection: costs, landlords, the duty to allow it

You check whether you can get fibre in two steps: the Breitbandatlas shows which networks exist in your area, and only the provider's availability check confirms it for your exact address. If the fibre already runs along your street, you need a building connection (Hausanschluss). Under § 134 TKG (Telecommunications Act), property owners generally have to allow it, and in a rented flat you can, under certain conditions, insist on the work being done up to your flat.

Key points at a glance

• The Breitbandatlas shows the technology in your area. You check availability at your exact address with the provider.
• According to the BREKO market analysis, fibre ran past 62.0 per cent of households and businesses on 30 June 2026, but only 29.8 per cent were actually connected.
• The Bundesnetzagentur puts one-off installation costs at usually around 500 to 1,000 euros. Providers often waive them during pre-marketing.
• Tenants do not need permission to sign a fibre contract. The provider may only lay the cable inside the building with the owner's consent.
• The Glasfaserbereitstellungsentgelt (fibre provision fee) under § 72 TKG is capped at 60 euros a year and 540 euros per flat.

How do you check whether fibre is available at your address?

The quickest way is the availability check of the network operators building in your area. The Breitbandatlas helps you find out beforehand which operators those are.

1. Open the Breitbandatlas: The Breitbandatlas in the Gigabit-Grundbuch (the federal gigabit register) shows which technologies are available in each area. The fixed-line data currently refer to 30 June 2026. According to the Bundesnetzagentur, the atlas is not binding for your exact address.
2. Ask several providers: Enter your address with Telekom, with the regional fibre provider and on comparison sites. Other providers do not always use a third-party fibre network, so it is worth checking each one.
3. Ask your municipality: The local council (Gemeinde) usually knows the local roll-out plans. The broadband competence centres of the federal states are further points of contact.
4. Read the result correctly: “Available” can mean your building already has a fibre socket. It can also mean a building connection still has to be built.

Your contract states which technology you use today. If your router is plugged into the phone socket, you have DSL; if it is plugged into the TV socket, you have cable. The technology check helps you work it out.

What do homes passed, FTTH, FTTB and FTTC mean?

Homes passed means the fibre runs past the building, but the building is not connected yet. Only with homes connected does the line enter the building, and with FTTH it ends in your flat.

Term	Fibre ends	What it means
Homes passed	in the street	no building connection yet
FTTB	in the basement	last metres over the building's wiring
FTTH	in the flat	fibre socket in your flat
FTTC	at the street cabinet	VDSL over copper, no fibre in the building

The gap between these figures is large. The BREKO market analysis 2026 reports a roll-out rate of 62.0 per cent on 30 June 2026 (28.7 million households and businesses, homes passed). The connection rate (homes connected), by contrast, only rose to 29.8 per cent, and 7.9 million connections were in active use. According to BREKO, network operators now rarely build building connections without a customer contract.

Since the June 2026 data, the Breitbandatlas records homes-passed-only addresses separately, and FTTH now only counts connected addresses. According to the Gigabit-Grundbuch, an apparent drop in FTTH is due to this method, not to less roll-out.

What does a fibre building connection cost?

During pre-marketing, the building connection is usually free if you book a tariff. After that, the Bundesnetzagentur puts one-off costs for installation and provision at usually around 500 to 1,000 euros.

During pre-marketing (Vorvermarktung), a provider collects contracts before it starts building. If you sign a contract with a two-year term at that point, you often get the connection without connection charges, according to the Bundesnetzagentur. You are not obliged to do so, but connecting later can cost more or take longer.

A figure from the BREKO analysis shows why providers charge later on: the so-called Hausstich, the line from the street into the basement, costs the network operator 1,950 euros per connection on average. What you pay yourself is set by each provider in its offer. Get the costs, the cable route and the start of the minimum term in writing.

If you sign at the door or online, you can cancel the contract within 14 days (Widerruf, right of withdrawal). A supposedly imminent end of DSL is no reason to rush: how long the copper network will keep running is explained in the guide on the DSL switch-off.

Does your landlord have to allow a fibre connection?

Under § 134 TKG, the owner generally cannot prohibit connecting the building, as long as the property is not unreasonably affected. As a tenant, you may sign a fibre contract, but the cable inside the building needs the owner's consent.

According to the Bundesnetzagentur, the owner has to allow work up to your flat if you have a fibre contract and the existing in-house wiring cannot be used. Under § 145(1) TKG, existing lines take priority. On 24 June 2026, the Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht) Karlsruhe ruled that a provider had to remove cables it had laid without consent (case no. 6 W 15/26, as reported by Stiftung Warentest). So talk to your landlord or the property management first.

If the landlord has the building fitted with fibre, a Glasfaserbereitstellungsentgelt may apply. § 72 TKG caps it at 60 euros a year and 540 euros per residential unit, usually for five years and for nine at most. Under the Betriebskostenverordnung (service charges ordinance), the landlord may only pass it on if you are free to choose your provider. If the costs exceed 300 euros, the landlord must, under § 556(3a) BGB (Civil Code), have obtained three offers beforehand where possible.

Worked example (assumptions): The cabling costs 450 euros per flat, with no subsidies. At no more than 60 euros a year, you pay the fee for around seven and a half years. Because 450 euros is more than 300 euros, the measure counts as complex (aufwändig): the network operator has to state the reasons, and your landlord needs the three comparison offers.

In an owner-occupied flat, you can demand under § 20(2) WEG (Condominium Act) that the owners' association allows the “Anschluss an ein Telekommunikationsnetz mit sehr hoher Kapazität” (connection to a very high capacity network). The owners' meeting decides how it is done. In your own detached house, you decide alone.

What will the 2026 TKG amendment change?

As of 5 November 2026, the TKG-Änderungsgesetz 2026 (TKG amendment act) has not been passed. The Bundestag held the first reading of the government bill (Drucksache 21/8277) on 9 October 2026, and the digital affairs committee held its hearing on 4 November.

At its core is a right to full build-out (Recht auf Vollausbau, § 144 of the draft): a network operator could cable an entire building that has no fibre yet. The owner would have two months to declare that they will build it themselves within 24 months, and owners' associations would get five months to agree on the cable route. The provision fee could be charged for up to nine years, and the special rule for complex measures would be dropped.

According to the Bundestag, the German Tenants' Association (Deutscher Mieterbund) and the Federation of German Consumer Organisations (vzbv) called for the provision fee to be abolished at the hearing. Which rules apply in the end will be decided by the Bundestag and the Bundesrat.

How do you order a building connection?

You order the building connection from the operator building the network, usually together with a tariff. These steps help:

1. Check availability with all local providers and save the result.
2. Clarify whether it is FTTH or FTTB and whether the connection up to your flat is included.
3. In a rented flat, inform your landlord or the property management; in an owner-occupied flat, request a resolution.
4. Check the offer for connection costs, the pre-marketing deadline and the start of the contract term.
5. Only plan to cancel your old contract once the activation date is set (switching provider).
6. Compare tariffs by effective price, for example in the internet comparison. If cable is also available, the comparison fibre or cable helps.