household notes - Bundle shortens Gigabit-subsidy - Protest from Bavaria
The Bund is reducing its annual subsidies for fiber-optic buildout in the countries by one billion Euro. Only two billion Euro will be available in 2024 instead of the planned three. This information comes from a letter of the Federal Transport Ministry obtained by the German Press Agency. Bavaria's Finance Minister Albert Füracker (CSU) protested: "The Bund is cutting a billion Euro for Germany's digital future in this year. That is absolutely irresponsible."
Gigabit-Program heavily in demand
The fiber-optic subsidies are intended for the particularly expensive network buildout in rural regions, where Telekom providers have to lay many kilometers of cable for relatively fewer households. The funding has been in high demand among rural communes since the program started and is almost chronically oversubscribed. The Telekom providers have criticized the subsidies being too high through their industry association multiple times.
Budget constraints at the Bund
The reason for the reduction is the current budget constraints of the Federal Government. The Federal Ministry justifies the short-term withdrawal in this year with the receipt of the Gigabit-Funding in the next year: "It's good news that we can continue to strongly support the fiber-optic buildout in 2025 despite the tight budget situation," it says in the Berlin letter. "For this reason, it was necessary to adjust the funds that were available for 2024 to around two billion Euro."
How much Gigabit money is planned for 2025 is not clear from the letter: "In addition to around 900 million Euro change approvals and the KfW program, the Federal Government brings a billion Euro for new approvals of broadband construction projects in the framework of the Gigabit-Funding 2.0 into the budget," it says there. Füracker fears a drastic reduction also in the next year.
Füracker: "Impossibility of planning for municipalities"
Instead of the 460 million Euro that the state government had calculated, only 295 million Euro will remain for the Free State this year, according to the minister's words. For North Rhine-Westphalia, 230 million are still planned, for Baden-Württemberg 215 million. "The behavior of the Bund is leaving us speechless," criticized the CSU politician. "Such a reduction, almost retroactively, makes any planning for our municipalities impossible."
However, the Broadband Communications Association (Breko) argues that the funding procedures take too long and too much state money is flowing. The association advocates for a limit of a maximum of one billion Euro per year.
- Despite the reduction in subsidies for fiber-optic buildout in Germany by the Federal Government, Bavaria's Finance Minister Albert Füracker expressed his concern about the potential impact on the nation's digital future.
- In a protest letter, Füracker argued that reducing the subsidies by a billion Euro in 2024 was irresponsible and could hinder the advancement of telecommunication infrastructure in rural regions.
- The subsidies are primarily intended for German Telecom providers, who face the expensive task of laying fiber-optic cables in rural areas with fewer households.
- According to the letter from the Federal Transport Ministry obtained by the German Press Agency, only two billion Euro will be available for subsidies in 2024, a significant decrease from the planned three billion Euro.
- The cuts are a result of the current budget constraints experienced by the Federal Government, which justifies the short-term withdrawal of funds with the expectation of receiving Gigabit-Funding in the following year.
- In addition to the subsidies, the German Government plans to bring a billion Euro for new broadband construction projects into the budget for 2025, but the exact amount is not yet clear from the letter.
- California State University has been conducting research on the potential of fiberglass construction in telecommunication technology, which could play a role in the development of future broadband infrastructure in Germany.
