A partnership of ZTE Germany, Primevest Capital Partners and German broadband provider Breitbandversorgung Deutschland (BBV) has completed a €20 million roll-out of a fibre-optic cable network across Bretten in the Karlsruhe region in the south of Germany, linking more than 3,800 homes and 3,000 buildings and laying 700 kilometres of cables across the city. The final phase of the project added Bretten’s inner-city centre to the network.
Even before the network was expanded, the town of Bretten had become a showcase for the national roll-out of fibre-optic networks and the performance of this new technology in Germany, which has lagged other European economies in the adoption of high-speed broadband infrastructure. The partnership was such a success that it is now being used as a model for the further development of fibre-optic networks elsewhere in the country.
Kersten Walter, Senior Asset Manager at Primevest Capital Partners, said: “This was our first investment with ZTE and BBV where German insurance companies and pension funds are providing long-term capital through the Primevest Communication Infrastructure Fund, to enable local network operators expand their fibre-optic networks. A key factor for the successful completion of this first project was the strong commitment of BBV, ZTE and Primevest Capital Partners to the partnership.”
Technology provider ZTE, investment manager Primevest Capital Partners and national network operator BBV Deutschland formed a partnership in the summer of 2017 to build a high-performance gigabit network in the city of Bretten. The first two phases connected five districts to the fibre-optic network, providing high-speed broadband access to private households, businesses, schools and public institutions from mid-2018. The final phase, now completed, encompassed Bretten’s inner-city centre and presented the partners with new challenges, including the need to relocate the city’s pedestrian zone and protect its historic houses. The three partners managed to complete the project on time despite these hurdles.
Manfred Maschek, Managing Director of BBV, said: “In February 2019 we became the very first network operator in Germany to provide symmetrical services ranging from 100 Mbit per second to 1 Gbit per second to private and business customers across Bretten. With the completion of the final phase, we have added a large number of new end-customers that far exceeded our expectations.”
The project represents technology provider ZTE’s entry into a broader Fibre-To-The-Home (FTTH) partnership and has acted as a catalyst for other projects in cooperation with BBV and Primevest.
Yang Lin, Managing Director of ZTE Deutschland GmbH, explained: “We will continue to concentrate on expanding fibre-optic networks across Germany. We have built up expertise though the installation of smaller networks in semi-rural areas that will enable us to carry out projects on a larger scale and with larger network operators in the future.”
ZTE was the general contractor for the project in the Karlsruhe district, supplying the active network components as well as expanding the entire passive network for Bretten. ZTE’s technology consists of Optical Line Terminals (OLTs) and Optical Network Terminations (ONTs), with the OLTs serving as nodes between the main network and the last mile to the customer.
About Primevest Investment Management
Primevest Capital Partners is a pan-European investment boutique that delivers innovative investment strategies in the asset classes of parking, telecommunications and contemporary and affordable living. We are one of the leading providers in Europe in our core business areas. We aim to provide our customers with attractive and sustainable returns. Primevest Capital Partners, with around 30 employees in Utrecht / the Netherlands and Berlin, Germany, currently manages assets of €1.7 billion, spread over eight sector-specific funds and three individual institutional mandates.
Press contact Primevest Capital Partners
Lisette van der Ham
Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications
+ 31683200561
lisette.vanderham@primevestcp.com
www.primevestcp.com
About BBV Germany
Broadband provider Breitbandversorgung Deutschland (BBV) operates nationwide through regional companies focusing on rolling out global Internet services via Fibre-To-The-Home (FTTH) networks connecting residential and business customers in districts throughout the country. The company belongs to UK-based Infracapital, a financially strong firm that invests in the sustainable development and expansion of critical digital infrastructure via fund vehicles. The company focuses on the large-scale expansion of FTTH in underserved areas in semi-rural regions where broadband connections are inadequate. The company’s core competencies include planning, building and marketing high-performance and future-oriented FTTH products and networks. It is one of Germany’s private-sector pioneers with a reputation for being innovative. The company was the very first Internet provider to facilitate connectivity across a wide range of gigabits at symmetrical speeds as a standard. BBV is a member of the broadband and telecommunications associations Buglas, BREKO and VATM.
Further information: www.bbv-deutschland.de
Press contact:
Thomas Fuchs
Press office BBV Germany
Tel: 0171 4483 168 –
Email: presse@bbv-deutschland.de
About ZTE
ZTE is a Chinese technology company that specialises in next-generation telecommunication systems, mobile devices and network solutions for consumers, network operators, companies and public-sector users. The company offers its customers integrated end-to-end solutions and delivers excellent value-added services for the increasingly converging telecommunications and information technology sectors. ZTE is listed on the Hong Kong and Shenzhen stock exchanges. Its products and services are sold to over 500 operators in more than 160 countries. ZTE invests 10% of its annual sales on research and development and also participates as a leading player in a number of industry organisations for the development of international standards. ZTE is committed to corporate social responsibility as part of its CSR strategy and is a member of the UN Global Compact network.
For more information about the company, go to: www.zte.com.cn.
Pressekontakt ZTE
ZTE Deutschland GmbH
Susanne Baumann
Fritz-Vomfelde-Str. 26-30
40547 Düsseldorf
Tel. +49 163 8199405
E-Mail: susanne.baumann@zte.com.cn
Presseagentur ZTE
LEWIS Communications
Lisa Brandes/Ann-Christin Schiller
Johannstraße 1
40476 Düsseldorf
Tel. +49 (0) 211 8824 7601
E-Mail: ZTEGermany@teamlewis.com