Fibre optic cables

Compensation payments for commercially used fibre optic cables

1.50 euros per metre plus a flat-rate interest payment of 0.50 euros per metre

Fibre optic cables are used for transmitting data. Some of the data transmission capacities that we do not need to control operation of our own extra-high-voltage grid are leased to commercial telecommunications companies (telecommunications operators). For such commercial use, the owners, over whose land the fibre optic cables pass, are entitled to a one-off compensation payment. Fibre optic cables are run in the central axis of extra-high-voltage overhead lines (“from mast tip to mast tip”) and do not have a protective strip like the extra-high-voltage line conductor . Pursuant to case law and the new Telecommunications Act, the telecommunications operators and the electricity grid operator are jointly and severally liable for the compensation payment to the property owner. Therefore, property owners can assert their claims against both Amprion and the telecommunications operators. However, claims for compensation are generally handled by us and only in exceptional cases by the telecommunications operators. Therefore, it is sufficient if the landowner initially addresses their claims solely to us. Amprion will assess the applications for compensation in accordance with the Telecommunications Act or act as coordinator in cases where the telecommunications companies carry out the assessment, draft the final statement and, if the claim is justified, make the compensation payment to the property owner/applicant.

Commercial first user is also obligated

However, the right to compensation does begin from the time the fibre optic cables are leased to the telecommunications companies, but rather from the day of their actual commercial use; that is, the right to compensation is not triggered until the first commercial telecommunications data is sent down the line by the telecommunications operator. Accordingly, the telecommunications company that first uses the fibre optic link commercially must pay compensation together with the line owner. The use of fibre optic cables by Amprion exclusively for operational purposes is permitted by the existing line easements and is not subject to any claim for compensation per the Telecommunications Act. Furthermore, the fact that a fibre optic cable has been leased to a telecommunications company, but has not yet been used for commercial purposes owing to some in-house reasons that are not known to us, does not give rise to a claim for compensation.

Application

Below, we will show how you, as the property owner, can obtain information on whether you are entitled to compensation in accordance with the Telecommunications Act. Unfortunately, it is not possible to provide information on compensation entitlements over the telephone.

Step 1: Open the attached specimen form and fill it in. Alternatively, you can also print out the blank form and fill it in by hand; it contains all the data required for checking whether you are entitled to compensation.

Step 2: Please enclose an unauthenticated, current extract from the land register as well as an extract from the cadastral land register (if available) with the printed specimen letter.

Step 3: Please send the completed and signed specimen letter and enclosures to:

Amprion GmbH
Fachbereich J-RL
-TKG-Geldausgleich-
Rheinlanddamm 24
44139 Dortmund
Germany

Alternatively, you can send an informal preliminary enquiry by e-mail to ten.noirpma@ethcersgnutiel, stating the property details concerned (“Grundbuch/Band/Blatt” (land register no./volume no./sheet no.) as well as the “Gemarkung/Flur/Flurstück” (local subdistrict/cadastral section/parcel).

After a preliminary examination, we will then send you appropriate confirmation and, in the event of your being eligible for compensation in accordance with the Telecommunications Act, you can submit the missing evidence of ownership (land register extract and, if necessary, cadastral land register and bank details) so that we can subsequently transfer the relevant compensation to your account. Insofar as there is an entitlement to compensation in accordance with the Telecommunications Act (§ 57 TKG aF and § 57 TKG), Amprion will pay to the landowners an amount of 1.50 euros per metre plus a flat-rate interest payment of 0.50 euros per metre, provided that the fibre optic cable was actually used for commercial telecommunications for the first time in the period from 1996 to 2006.

The amount of compensation paid is based on the length of the fibre optic link measured in meters (m). This is carried out using true-to-scale maps, measuring between the starting point where the cable first enters the area of the property and the end point for each parcel concerned.