On 16.01.2017, the “Special program for industrial estates” with a volume of 350 million euros was published. Since this date, interested local authorities – in particular municipalities, but also city states, districts, municipal special-purpose associations or other local authorities or associations under the respective municipal law of the federal states (e.g. an office) – can apply for federal funding using the so-called “first come, first served” procedure.
On the occasion of the publication of the special program, aconium GmbH (project management agency of the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure) gave a lecture on the topic of “Broadband in commercial areas as an important location factor” at the Investitions- und Förderbank Niedersachsen – NBank on 19.01.2017. The expansion of network infrastructure in underserved areas is of considerable importance for local authorities. In addition to the previous funding opportunities provided by the federal government, the state and the EU, the introduction of the “Special Program for Commercial Areas” as part of the previous federal funding guideline has provided another promising tool for expanding nationwide broadband coverage.
After the welcome address by Mr. Michael Kiesewetter (Chairman of the Board of NBank) and the presentation “The start has been made – where do we stand?” by Mr. Norman Ranke (Lower Saxony Ministry of Economics, Labour and Transport, Head of the Communication Services Department), Mr. Tim Brauckmüller (Managing Director of aconium GmbH) was able to provide interesting insights into this new funding opportunity.
Mr. Brauckmüller explained the framework conditions and opportunities of the special programme. Each individual project can be funded with up to one million euros from the federal program. A separate application – with a de minimis limit of 10,000 euros – must be submitted for each business park. The special program supports expansion projects that achieve complete coverage of commercial/industrial areas and ports with at least one gigabit/s symmetrically. As a special funding requirement, the public areas of the business park must be supplied with WLAN free of charge for private end customers.
Ms. Andrea Leonhardt (Lower Saxony Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Transport, Communications Services Department) explained further possibilities for using specific state funds in her presentation “State funding – content and differentiation from federal funding”. Dr. Miriam Bader-Gassner (NBank, Consulting & Services) then pointed out the support services offered by the state of Lower Saxony and the NBank.
In the concluding discussion round, the representatives of the regional authorities in Lower Saxony were able to exchange individual experiences, opinions and solutions with regard to the application processes, the special features for port areas, procurement law, deadlines and disbursement of funds and clarify direct questions with the speakers.
Further information on the special program.
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- Die Veranstaltung fand in der NBank in Hannover statt. Unter anderem referierte Tim Brauckmüller, Geschäftsführer der aconium GmbH.
