The European Commission has approved the plan of the German state of Bavaria to accelerate network and gigabit expansion in grey NGA spots, meaning areas where internet connections of at least 30 Mbps are already available. The commission has lifted restrictions, to enable the state of Bavaria to support construction of a high-speed internet network through subsidies.

The local government will only support fiber-optic connections into buildings in the future. This means that gigabit networks can now be built over a wide area. The state of Bavaria had already successfully tested this model in six pilot projects.

-City Ebersberg, Upper Bavaria

-Markt Hutthurm, Lower Bavaria

-City Berching, Upper Palatinate

-City of Kulmbach, Upper Franconia

-Municipality Kammerstein, Middle Franconia

-Municipality Kleinostheim, Lower Franconia

“Bavaria is and remains a pioneer in Europe in broadband funding! With the new gigabit guideline, Bavaria is now the first region in Europe to promote the acceleration of connections to gray NGA spots, i.e. places where fast internet with at least 30 Mbit / s is already available. After more than two years of audits and negotiations, the European Commission has approved the Free State’s application for nationwide gigabit funding. Future-proof gigabit networks can now also be made possible in a wide area. A novelty in Europe: Bavaria had already successfully tested this with 6 pilot projects in the Free State, ”said Finance and Homeland Minister Albert Füracker at the presentation of the new“ Bavarian Gigabit Funding ”on Wednesday (January 29) in Munich. “Our perseverance was worth it: This decision is not only a great success for Bavarian broadband funding, it is a model for the whole of Germany and all EU member countries. The municipalities can start the process from March 2020. In addition, our broadband managers will also approach the municipalities, ”emphasizes Füracker.

The project enables public investment in areas where the 2025 connectivity targets are not yet met and no sufficient infrastructure is to be provided by private investors within the next three years. To avoid duplication of infrastructures, the Bavarian authorities will take into account existing and planned investments by market operators in the following way:

• The infrastructure will connect customers who do not yet have access to certain minimum speeds: 100 Mbps download for households; 200 Mbps symmetric (upload and download) or more than 500 Mbps download for companies
• The new networks will not be deployed where a very high capacity infrastructure is already in place or planned by private investors, such as fibre networks leading to the customers’ premises or upgraded cable networks
• Areas, where there are two or more networks providing fast broadband (30 Mbps or more) in parallel, are also excluded from the project

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