The fact that the federal government is stopping funding for fiber optic expansion has caught the federal states and municipalities cold. In a letter, they demand that more funds be made available. Time is of the essence, especially for regions with poor internet connections.
The early halt to subsidies for the fiber optic expansion is driving 15 federal states and the municipal umbrella organizations to the barricades: They are demanding the immediate resumption of subsidies. In a fire letter to the federal government, they also complain that so far “no reliable funds” have been promised for the expansion of the broadband network for 2023 either. The current freeze on applications must be “repealed and the new funding on January 1st, 2023 should be directly connected to the existing funding,” says the letter to the Federal Ministry of Transport, copies of which were also sent to the Chancellery and Ministry of Finance.
All federal states have signed, with the exception of Hesse and the Association of Cities and Districts, as well as the Association of Towns and Municipalities. This adds another point of contention in the relationship between the federal and state governments: both sides are already negotiating about the energy price brake and a successor to the 9-euro ticket.
Already on Friday, the district council had sharply criticized the end of fiber optic funding: The municipal umbrella organization spoke of an “emergency stop” that was carried out “without warning”, which endangers the nationwide expansion of fiber optic networks and the investment plans of many districts “cut the ground”. Fiber optic cables are the prerequisite for fast Internet, which not only many private individuals want to do without in everyday life. It has also become essential for most businesses. This is an urgent problem for regions with so-called “grey spots”, i.e. places without a fast connection. At the end of the day, it’s about jobs.
According to the Federal Ministry of Transport, the federal government had stopped reapproving applications for its “gray patches funding program” on Wednesday because the financial volume available for this year had been exhausted. Accordingly, the federal funds planned for 2022 in the amount of three billion euros have already been applied for. The expansion support program is to be continued, and the corresponding guideline is currently being drawn up, as the ministry explained. However, the new program will start “as early as possible in 2023”. Only then can new applications be submitted. At the end of August, Transport Minister Volker Wissing said that the government did not want to get bogged down in visions of air taxis, but rather specifically promote fiber optic expansion.
There is currently a great deal of uncertainty, criticized Bavaria’s Finance Minister Albert Füracker. “No one in Berlin tells us what stage of the process has to be reached in order not to get anything, to have to wait first, to have to reschedule,” said the CSU politician with sarcastic mockery. “Such an abrupt halt to funding without any prior warning only suggests clear mismanagement by the federal government.”
In the letter, the 15 federal states and the municipal associations argue that fast internet connections are important for the German economy. “Unlike the current relief packages or the gas price brake, it’s not about consumer spending, but about sustainable shaping of the future,” the letter says. “There are already deficits here in Germany. Further delays are unacceptable.”
(This article was first published on Sunday, October 23, 2022.)
