Tens of thousands of industrial parks and the vast majority of schools in Germany still do not have a fast fiber optic connection.
From the federal funding program for broadband expansion with a total volume of twelve billion euros, only 1.3 billion euros (eleven percent) were paid out from the end of 2015 to July 2021, according to a response from the government to a request from the FDP parliamentary group that was available to the Handelsblatt.
Projects with a volume of nine billion euros were therefore approved with funding notices.
Of the 48,394 industrial parks mentioned in the answer, 386 were fully supplied with fiber optics by the end of last year, that is 0.8 percent. According to the government response, 3652 (eleven percent) of the 33,282 schools in Germany had gigabit-compatible fiber optic connections by the end of 2020, as the "Handelsblatt" reported.
The federal government explained the low outflow of funds for the broadband expansion by saying that the money for approved funding projects will only be paid out once the project has made progress. These advances could only be achieved, especially in broadband expansion projects, once the planning, approval and award procedures have been completed. "Depending on the size of the project, several months to well over a year are to be estimated for the subsequent network expansion, which is mainly associated with civil engineering work," the newspaper quoted from the answer. The availability of tight planning and construction capacities is also decisive for the implementation time.
The FDP politician Daniela Kluckert accused the federal government of acting “in an uncoordinated, aimless and chaotic way”.
The grand coalition had failed to make Germany fit for the digital age, the member of the Bundestag told the Handelsblatt.