Berlin For the time being, the federal, state and local governments will no longer invest money in expanding the broadband network in uneconomical areas. As the Handelsblatt learned from government circles, there will be a new funding program in the spring at the earliest.
First of all, the Federal Ministry of Transport wants to discuss a new concept at a two-day workshop in mid-December with the federal states and municipal associations. “On the basis of the results, the funding concept will be implemented and the guidelines will be drawn up.”
The guideline will then be coordinated within the federal government, confirmed a spokesman for Federal Digital Minister Volker Wissing (FDP). “The aim is to put the new funding into effect in the first quarter of 2023.”
This means that there will probably be no more funding for at least half a year. The federal government had stopped the current funding program early in mid-October because there had been too many applications from municipalities and districts. The program would have officially expired at the end of the year.
Large sums of money had been requested, especially from Saxony and Baden-Württemberg. The Federal Ministry now wants to examine the applications received and decide on them in January at the latest.
New funding concept is still pending
It was said that many applications had still been made in view of the uncertain situation. After all, since the beginning of the year the federal, state and local governments have been discussing how the state should participate in the future in order to create a nationwide fiber optic network by 2030.
The federal states would like to continue to be able to provide funding wherever the private sector is not ready to build in the next three years; the federal government only wants to provide funding where no one will invest in the long term and prioritize projects that have been applied for. A new funding concept should already be available in the summer, but the debate is still ongoing.
The Baden-Württemberg Digital Minister, Thomas Strobl (CDU), criticizes: “Now we face the great challenge of adapting the plans to a new funding regime that has not been seen before.”
According to Strobl, the announcement by the federal government that it intends to align the grants even more closely with the actual needs in the regions will cause additional uncertainty and uncertainty.
Imbalance between private sector and public funding
The state has received more than two billion euros from the federal government since 2016 to expand the broadband network. Also, every fifth application was submitted without first checking the market with a market investigation process to see whether a private company without tax money would also be willing to expand the network.
The majority of the federal states reject the federal government prioritizing funding applications in the future.
(Photo: imago images/Manngold)
The Bavarian Minister of Finance, Albert Füracker, spoke of the federal government’s “poor testimony” in view of the lack of a subsidy program. It has been clear since 2021 that the funding program will expire. “Nevertheless, the federal government did not consider it necessary to launch the urgently needed follow-up funding in good time,” said the CSU politician. In other countries, there was talk of “half-baked proposals” from the federal government that were in the air.
From the point of view of the Federal Ministry, there has long been an imbalance between private and state-financed expansion in view of the many applications that have been made. This is “now the case,” said the spokesman.
Kay Ruge, deputy general manager at the district council, criticized: “If the federal government had provided clarity in good time about the amount of funding available in the next few years and the funding conditions that will apply from 2023, all of this would have been avoided.” The funding gap that has existed since October have in many counties “causes costs and destroys trust”.
Federal Digital Minister Wissing insists on prioritizing projects in the future.
(Photo: IMAGO/aal.photo)
Federal Digital Minister Wissing, however, insists on prioritizing projects in the future. Subsidy money should first go to municipalities “where the need for support is very high,” said his spokesman. That is why there should no longer be any applications without a prior market analysis. Rather, the federal government wants to present a so-called “potential analysis” in December. It is intended to show where self-sufficient expansion is likely.
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According to the ministry, 87 percent of the approximately 8.9 million fiber optic connections created by the end of 2021 have so far been built privately. In large states like Bavaria, two-thirds of all connections are privately financed.
Economy warns against too much funding
The expanding companies consider the funding gap for the next five months to be less of a problem. “The application freeze has no effect on the further fiber optic expansion,” said Sven Knapp, director of the Federal Association of Broadband Communication.
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According to him, state subsidies do not accelerate the expansion, they make it possible in areas where the Internet supply is particularly poor and there is no potential for self-sufficient expansion, he clarified. But they urgently need to be prioritized. Otherwise, “a renewed discussion about empty funding pots would be programmed by summer 2023 at the latest”.
The majority of the federal states, on the other hand, reject the federal government prioritizing funding applications in the future. At best, it should be “done in close coordination with the federal states” – if the budget funds are not sufficient.
However, this restriction could be obsolete: The traffic light coalition approved more money this week with the federal budget 2023: Instead of the three billion as this year, there should be one billion more euros to support the fiber optic expansion. However, the money does not flow until a new concept is found.
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