In VISION 2022, the Wartburg city of Eisenach has set itself the goal of expanding its digital infrastructure in order to become the “fastest regional center in Germany”. This is to be achieved with an operator model that has some special features and can be considered a pilot project in Thuringia and beyond.
Eisenach is located in the Hörsel valley on the north-western edge of the Thuringian Forest between the Hörselberge and Werrabergland. The urban area is correspondingly hilly and extends from 196 meters to 400 meters above sea level. Eisenach is not only famous for Wartburg Castle, where Martin Luther translated the New Testament into German in 1521, or for the composer Johann Sebastian Bach, who was born there in 1685, but also as a traditional industrial location. Car manufacturing in particular has played a formative role in the Wartburg town for more than 100 years.
Since the founding of Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach A. G. in 1896, Eisenach has been one of the most important production locations for automobiles and supplier industries in Germany. This is one of the reasons why the region is currently the strongest economy in Thuringia. Almost a fifth of all industrial production in the state comes from Eisenach and the surrounding area. The region’s largest employer is still a major car manufacturer. However, the concentration on car manufacturing and the resulting monostructure is associated with challenges in the face of digital change. Traditional industrial regions such as Eisenach need to expand their digital infrastructure in order to be fit for the future.
“The city must succeed in positioning itself more broadly in order to counter the changing automotive industry and changing mobility behavior more effectively than before. We must therefore create the necessary future-proof infrastructural conditions to ensure that the city of Eisenach can exploit all the advantages of competitiveness for the rapid transformation of thousands of jobs,” says Jens Hartlep, Head of Economic Development and Sustainability at the City of Eisenach. Hartlep is the project manager of the Eisenach broadband operator model, with which the city is driving forward the expansion of digital infrastructure.
The federal broadband funding program was already an important part of the expansion project during the planning phase. The city of Eisenach had successfully participated in the 4th call for proposals by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure for the funding of broadband infrastructure projects. After consultation with the Thuringian Broadband Competence Center and with a view to the special regional circumstances and requirements, the plan to eliminate the existing ‘white spots’ with the help of an operator model matured in the city, taking into account a profitability analysis by an external service provider. The idea was that this would ensure the necessary sustainability for the region and its development. The special feature: Eisenach will probably be the first city in Germany in which the operation of the broadband network is in the hands of a pool operator. Background: The network will be operated by Sportbad Eisenach GmbH (SEG), whose Managing Director is Jens Hartlep.
SEG is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the city of Eisenach and operates the aquaplex leisure and sports pool on the Hörsel river. SEG also holds a 51% stake in Eisenacher Versorgungs-Betriebe GmbH(evb), which is also strongly committed to e-mobility in the region. In this function, SEG operates combined heat and power plants for the energy supply. SEG therefore has experience in providing basic services to citizens. Since 2017, the company has been focusing on broadband.
The aim is to build and maintain a broadband fiber optic network (FTTB, Fibre to the Building) as an infrastructural task for the city of Eisenach. “The operator model offers all the advantages of a sustainable, regional, functional broadband expansion strategy from a single source, as the fiber optic networks remain part of the municipal assets and therefore enable quick decision-making processes,” explains Hartlep. The Eisenach operator model is the first pilot project of its kind in Thuringia. The transfer of the project, which was largely driven forward by the city’s economic development department, to the owner-managing company SEG took place for various reasons: “As evb itself is not a wholly-owned subsidiary of the city of Eisenach, it was not an option as the owner-managing company. In this respect, it was only logical to incorporate it into SEG,” explains Hartlep. SEG is now using the existing know-how at evb for the broadband expansion. This includes commercial processes such as property connections, network documentation, insurance and strategic network planning.
SEG’s objectives are the construction and leasing of the fiber optic network, its gradual commissioning by the end of 2019 and the further expansion of the gigabit network throughout the city. A major advantage of the construction for the implementation of the project is “the seamless handling of the broadband project between the business development department and SEG, as the project manager also manages the business of the baths in a secondary position,” says Hartlep. Once the passive infrastructure has been completed, the plan is to lease it to a network operator. The city then expects to refinance its own contribution to the expansion within six to seven years. The implementation of the broadband expansion by means of the operator model thus secures the supply of Eisenach’s citizens.
With the combination of a central geographical location within Germany, the advantages of modern, fast transport axes to the conurbations and a comprehensive urban gigabit network, the aim is to create a breeding ground for the successful establishment of creative industries and start-ups in Eisenach as a counterweight to the previous industrial monostructure. “We want to fully exploit our advantages and make faster progress than competing regions,” emphasizes Hartlep.
Photo above: View of the Opel factories in Eisenach
Photo credit: GIS Eisenach GmbH
Photos below: View of the Opel works in Eisenach (photo credit: GIS Eisenach GmbH), The aquaplex leisure and sports pool in Eisenach (photo credit: Sportbad Eisenach GmbH), Wartburg Castle (photo credit: City of Eisenach)