BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - So far, only around a quarter of the funds earmarked by the federal government for the expansion of high-speed fixed-line internet have been used. As the Federal Ministry of Digital Affairs announced on request, a total of around 16 billion euros has been approved for broadband expansion in various funding programs since 2015. According to the information, only more than four billion euros of this has been called up. According to the ministry, the remaining funds, i.e. more than eleven billion euros, are currently being used and continuously called up by the applicants. "We assume that the funds approved to date will also be disbursed in the approved amount."

According to a target set by the German government, fiber optic connections should be available wherever people live and work by 2030. We are still a long way from achieving this. Providers such as Deutsche Telekom and Deutsche Glasfaser are expanding rapidly. However, companies are avoiding some sparsely populated areas because it is not economically viable for them there. To ensure that such rural areas are not cut off from adequate digital participation, the German government is providing funding.

Fiber optics offers the best data transmission

We are talking about Internet with fiber optics right into the house or apartment (FTTH, Fiber to the Home). This is considered the best technology for fast and stable data connections. Internet via telephone lines (DSL/VDSL) is a discontinued model in the long term, and the network via television cable (HFC, Hybrid Fiber Coax) cannot technically keep up with pure fiber optics.

According to the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Affairs, headed by Volker Wissing (FDP), the federal funds will be paid according to the progress of construction. "This is why the majority of the approved funds only flow several years after approval has been granted."

Various procedural steps must be completed before the funds are paid out. For example, the municipalities must first carry out the so-called market exploration procedure and can only then apply for the funds. Once these have been approved, the tendering process begins and only after the contract has been awarded can a company submit building applications.

Invoices are submitted according to the progress of construction

These in turn are checked and approved, after which the construction work can begin - the latter is not a sure-fire success given the tight construction capacities. Invoices are submitted according to the progress of construction, which are then paid. According to the ministry, it usually takes two to four years between approval and the first cash flow. The federal government is currently requesting more than 3,000 expansion projects, resulting in four million new fiber optic connections.

Requests only for a small part of the expansion

The Federal Ministry states that the gigabit demand is aimed at supporting mostly rural, less densely populated or structurally weak regions. They are on the right track, with fiber optic connections already available for around a third of German households, and the trend is rising sharply. 90 percent of the expansion is self-sufficient, i.e. without a demand. "The current demand concept improves the balance between the private sector and the required expansion of telecommunications networks."

The state requirement is not uncontroversial, many telecommunications companies view it critically. "Due to the high bureaucratic hurdles, the implementation of government-required expansion projects takes significantly longer than the private-sector expansion of fiber optic networks - up to seven years is not uncommon," says Sven Knapp from the German Broadband Association (Breko). "Nevertheless, the required fiber optic expansion is and remains important for the supply of regions in which a self-economic expansion is not possible."

The German government recently cut subsidies for fiber optic expansion. Instead of three billion euros, only two billion euros are to be made available this year. The reason for the cut is the federal government's current budget figures./wdw/DP/he