Background

Meridiam signed a cooperation agreement with the regional authority of Montabaur (Verbandsgemeinde Montabaur, “VGM”) to develop, build and operate a Fibre to the Home/Building (“FTTH/B”) network in the catchment area of Montabaur. VGM is a public entity governing the city of Montabaur and 24 smaller cities with a population of c. 42,000 people and is located in the western part of Germany between Frankfurt and Cologne. The newly created NetCo “Glasfaser Montabaur GmbH & Co. KG” (“GFM”) will connect up to 11,200 buildings representing 17,000 households in Montabaur.

The build-out is split into 18 clusters, with three clusters built between 2021 and 2023. The Project aims to reach 100% coverage in the target area – a unique approach in Germany that is expected to raise attention among public authorities and market participants.
Operation (including investments into active equipment) of the network is done by Vodafone who is the anchor tenant and active operator of the network under a long-term contract. Vodafone offers its own services as an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to both end users and businesses. Under the open access obligation, Vodafone also provides an offer to other ISPs for marketing their respective services on the network. The contract between the Project Company and Vodafone has a duration of 30 years.

Stage:

Commercial Close

ESG/SDG Key Facts

This approach strongly supports social cohesion by providing the possibility to every single individual customer and public facility to be connected to the network.
Germany is lagging behind the rest of Europe in FTTH/B deployment. The situation is even worse in medium density areas such as Montabaur which remain largely underserved in terms of FTTH/B coverage despite being close to larger urban centres (e.g. Frankfurt for Montabaur).
The Project was developed jointly with the city of Montabaur and the 24 local municipalities. Targeted areas have been defined including a number of public buildings/facilities with social functions, supporting in particular young people and people with disabilities.
The Project has obtained two management system certifications: ISO14001 and CEEQUAL.

(1): Source: https://www.ftthcouncil.eu/Portals/1/Fibre_Market_Panorama_2021_PR_def.pdf

SDG Achievements and Roadmaps

SDG 5 (Gender equality)

The Project promotes gender equality in management. 40% of the Board of Directors were female in 2022.

SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth)

Implementation of community benefits KPI around use of long-term unemployed, apprentices, local workforce.

SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure)

Support social cohesion by providing the possibility to every single individual customer and public facility to be connected to the network.

SDG 11 (Sustainable cities and communities) –

In particular semi-dense and rural areas are facing challenges in competing with cities in providing attractive working and living conditions. The project targets various smaller communities which will allow them to be connected to the network. Fast internet connection is essential to make these communities future-proof and resilient which will also reduce the gap between urban and rural areas and foster overall social cohesion.