FibreCo will be able to go ahead. On Monday 20 February, the European Commission gave the green light to the creation of a joint venture between the two giants Altice Luxembourg and Vodafone, with a view to bringing fibre optics to 7m German homes within six years.

As the two groups announced on 17 October, 80% of the rollout will focus on large housing associations within the existing footprint of Vodafone's hybrid fibre cable network that are interested in ‘fibre to the home’ upgrades. The remaining 20% of the rollout will take place outside Vodafone’s existing footprint, focusing on neighbouring homes.

The two companies are expected to invest up to €7bn in the project over the planned period. At the end of the period, Vodafone will lease the infrastructure to customers on an exclusive basis while the others will remain on its current network. It will also have to find new customers.

“Altice’s existing presence in Germany via Geodesia, its unique experience in operating more than 45m homes with the latest ultra-fast fibre networks in Europe and the US, and Vodafone’s competitive position as a major tenant will help us establish one of the largest FTTH business networks in Europe,” said Altice co-CEO David Drahi.

This article was first published in French on . It has been translated for Delano.