On July 4, 2018, the broadband expansion for the district of the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte began with a symbolic groundbreaking ceremony in the municipality of Pripsleben, north of Neubrandenburg. With the start of the district-wide infrastructure project, municipalities in the Treptower Land region such as Altenhagen, Kriesow, Röckwitz, Tützpatz and Wildberg and residents in the municipalities of Knorrendorf and Rosenow will be able to benefit from the fast network. Christian Pegel (Minister for Energy, Infrastructure and Digitalization in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern), District Administrator Heiko Kärger, Kai-Uwe Zirzow (Mayor of Pripsleben) and Ingo Meyer (Managing Director of Neubrandenburger Stadtwerke GmbH) agreed at the ceremony that this was an important step towards the digital future. “Broadband is enormously important for the development of rural areas in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,” said District Administrator Heiko Kärger. Mayor Zirzow emphasized that he was pleased that broadband expansion was now progressing. A fast internet connection is an important prerequisite for the influx of young families. There is interest in moving back to villages like Barkow. The expansion of the digital infrastructure is being funded by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure(BMVI) with almost nine million euros from the federal broadband funding program. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is contributing 2.5 million euros and the district just under 1.3 million euros. These funds will be used to carry out 258 kilometers of civil engineering work and lay 320 kilometers of ducts. The expansion will give more than 3,600 households, 18 institutions and administrations, 28 rescue service control centers and 33 educational institutions, including three schools, access to transmission speeds of at least 50 Mbit/s. More than 560 companies will benefit from connections with 1 Gbit/s and more.
Photo l-r: Kai-Uwe Zirzow (Mayor of Pripsleben), Christian Pegel (Minister for Energy, Infrastructure and Digitalization in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern), Ingo Meyer (Managing Director of Neubrandenburger Stadtwerke GmbH) and District Administrator Heiko Kärger at the symbolic ground-breaking ceremony on 4 July 2018 in Pripsleben.
Photo credit: aconium GmbH