With immediate effect, the federal government is also promoting gigabit expansion in so-called “gray areas”. This means that the expansion of ultra-fast Internet is now being supported everywhere where bandwidths of at least 100 Mbit/s are not yet possible.
Previously, there was a lower threshold for so-called “white spots”: Only connections with less than 30 Mbit/s of available bandwidth were eligible for the funding program of the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI).
In addition, there are socio-economic priorities such as schools, public authorities, hospitals, small and medium-sized enterprises and farms. They are now generally eligible for funding without a threshold.
In 2023, however, the threshold will be removed completely: From then on, all connections that will not be upgraded to gigabit bandwidths by private telecommunications providers in the foreseeable future will be eligible for funding. The BMVI is thus paving the way for the gigabit society.
aconium remains project sponsor on behalf of the BMVI
The new gigabit funding also increases the maximum funding amount per expansion project from 30 million euros to 150 million euros. Districts can now also claim up to 200,000 euros in funding for consultancy services. For cities and municipalities, the previous maximum limit of 50,000 euros still applies.
aconium will remain a reliable partner at the side of the BMVI as the sovereign project sponsor for the new gigabit funding. aconium is responsible for applications in the federal states of Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and Schleswig-Holstein.
Interested municipalities, telecommunications companies and citizens can find more information on the new gigabit funding program at:
https://aconium.eu/kompetenzen/foerdermittelberatung/breitbandfoerderung-gigabit/
You can find the funding call for applications here:
First call for applications – funding for broadband expansion projects and consulting services (04/2021)