“It’s a big framework that we want to realize here” – with these words, Heike Schäffer, deputy district administrator of the Harz district, gave the starting signal for the broadband expansion of commercial and industrial areas in the region on 29.05.2018. The Groß Orden industrial estate in Quedlinburg was the venue for the first symbolic ground-breaking ceremony for the expansion project.
As part of a profitability gap model, 80 kilometers of civil engineering, 452 kilometers of fiber optics and 80 kilometers of empty conduits with a total investment volume of over 4 million euros, supported by the federal broadband funding program, will be implemented. At the end of the project, minimum bandwidths of 100 Mbit/s will be available for more than 80 percent of the connections in the project area. Daniel Knohr, Regional Manager of aconium GmbH, the project sponsor of the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI), emphasized that it is not only the economy that benefits from the modern fibre optic infrastructure, but also the citizens in the region: “With a view to the digital transformation, the broadband expansion of commercial areas in the Harz region is the initiator for further projects and thus creates synergy effects for people – both in their professional and private lives.”
The development of industrial and commercial areas is an important step for the future viability of companies and facilities in the Harz district. Among others, the workshop for people with disabilities (WfbM) of Lebenshilfe Harzkreis-Quedlinburg also benefits from faster Internet access.
Photo: Sandra Beichert (l., State Chancellery of Saxony-Anhalt, Department for the Improvement of Broadband Supply), Karin Müller (2nd from left, Economic Development Officer, Harz District), Daniel Knohr (4th from right, Regional Manager aconium), Heike Schäffer (2nd from right, Deputy District Administrator of the Harz district), Frank Ruch (r., Mayor of Quedlinburg) with representatives of the expanding telecommunications companies at the ground-breaking ceremony in Quedlinburg (Saxony-Anhalt) on 29.05.2018.
Photo credit: aconium GmbH / Andreas Silberbach