On May 2, the symbolic ground-breaking ceremony for the broadband expansion in the Vulkaneifel district took place in Meisburg, Rhineland-Palatinate. Prior to this, the associated contract between the district and the responsible telecommunications company was signed in the hall of the Meisburg community center. The infrastructure project will receive 4.73 million euros in funding from the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure’s (BMVI) federal broadband funding program to cover a profitability gap. The district is also receiving co-financing of 2.61 million euros from state funding and is contributing 871,319 euros of its own funds. “Broadband is now an important location factor,” emphasized District Administrator Heinz-Peter Thiel at the event. The up-and-coming region is attracting young families in particular, who want to benefit from a future-proof broadband connection. “The funding from the federal and state governments makes it possible for us to create a sustainable and comprehensive network in a timely manner and thus further increase our attractiveness as a place to live and work,” added Thiel, thanking everyone involved in bringing the project to fruition. Manfred Henning, Head of the Regional Office for Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland at aconium GmbH, the BMVI’s official project sponsor, also agreed with District Administrator Thiel on the importance of broadband expansion as a key location factor. “The expansion of gigabit networks will be the basis for the prosperity and economic development of entire regions,” he added. “This is particularly true for a district like the Vulkaneifel, which has to face the particular challenges of socio-economic developments in rural areas and is creating significant added value for the region by starting to expand broadband.” As part of the funded broadband expansion, 184 kilometers of civil engineering work will be carried out. This will provide over 3,000 households with bandwidths of at least 50 Mbit/s and 85 companies with bandwidths of 1 Gbit/s and higher. State Secretary Randolf Stich stated: “The start of the civil engineering work is a visible sign that progress is being made!” However, broadband expansion in the region is only the foundation for the next digitization steps.
Photo: Manfred Henning (2nd from left, aconium), Matthias Pauly (3rd from left, Gerolstein municipality, district representative), District Administrator Heinz-Peter Thiel (4th from left, District of Vulkaneifel), Gordon Schnieder (5th from left, Member of the State Parliament of Rhineland-Palatinate), Patrick Schnieder (center with spade, Member of the State Parliament), State Secretary Randolf Stich (7th from left, Ministry of the Interior and Sport Rhineland-Palatinate), Marco Weber (7th from right, MdL Rhineland-Palatinate), Alois Manstein (4th from right) and Dieter Demulin (3rd from right, both district councillors of the Vulkaneifel district), Werner Rätz (2nd from right, 1st alderman of the Kelberg municipality) and Friedhelm Bongartz (right, mayor of Gerolstein) with representatives of the responsible telecommunications companies at the ground-breaking ceremony in Meisburg on 02.05.2018. Photo credit: aconium GmbH