Vodafone Group reportedly opened discussions with investors on potential plans to create a joint venture (JV) company which would focus on building fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) networks in Germany.

Citing an article in Handelsblatt, German news agency dpa reported the UK-headquartered group is said to be mulling an investment of up to €10 billion in a German fibre JV.

The news outlet noted a final decision has not yet been made and various scenarios are under consideration.

Vodafone CEO Nick Read has previously indicated he is open to JVs and other measures to meet FTTH demand in Germany.

Speaking during Vodafone’s earnings call in November 2021, Read also expressed a preference for building FTTH networks outside the operator’s existing cable network in the country.

Vodafone’s German business currently operates a hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC) network which passes about 25 million households, of which 23 million have access to so-called gigabit data rates.

A partnership with Deutsche Glasfaser also allows Vodafone Germany to lease and operate the company’s FTTH networks.

Rival operators in Germany have already established fibre JVs with a focus on rural deployments.

In 2020, Telefonica Deutschland (O2) formed the Unsere Grune Glasfaser (UGG) fibre JV with the Allianz insurance group.

Deutsche Telekom, which is investing in its own FTTH network, also recently formed the GlasfaserPlus venture with Australia’s IFM Investors.