On March 2, 2018, the first civil engineering works for the broadband expansion began in Neustadt-Hagen, northwest of Hanover. A total of 13 municipalities in the Hanover region will benefit from high-speed network access in future. In the presence of Ulf-Birger Franz (Head of Economic Affairs, Hannover Region), Regional President Hauke Jagau (Hannover Region), Maic Schillack (First City Councillor in Neustadt am Rübenberge), Norbert Lütke (Leine-Weser Regional Development Office), Lennart Heise (Hannover Region), Stefan Molkentin (Head of the Regional Office for Bremen, Hamburg, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein at aconium GmbH, the project management organization appointed by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure) and representatives of the telecommunications companies involved in the expansion.
“The end of the ‘white spots’ is now in sight: As of today, we are only 89 kilometers away from providing the region with high-performance Internet coverage – a gain for the quality of life and an important location factor,” said Regional President Hauke Jagau. “The intensive preparatory work has paid off,” added Ulf-Birger Franz, Head of Economic Affairs. Stefan Molkentin emphasized that over 5,000 households and companies as well as a number of facilities such as schools, kindergartens, voluntary fire departments and police stations will be equipped for the future with the expansion launched today. A total of 89 kilometers of civil engineering work is required for the expansion in the region. A total of 521 kilometers of fiber optic and 97 kilometers of empty conduit infrastructure as well as 14 new cable distributors will be installed.
The expansion project is being funded with 1.15 million euros from the Federal Broadband Funding Program of the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure and 1.7 million euros from the Lower Saxony Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection. The Hannover Region is contributing its own municipal share of 323,000 euros.
Photo (from left to right): Lennart Heise (Hannover Region), Stefan Molkentin (aconium GmbH), Peer Beyersdorff (Breitband Kompetenz Zentrum Niedersachsen), Torsten Voigts (Northern Access), Norbert Lütke (Amt für regionale Landesentwicklung Leine-Weser), Ulf-Birger Franz (Hannover Region), Thomas Krieger (Telekom Deutschland), Maic Schillack (Stadt Neustadt am Rübenberge). Photo credit: Hannover Region / Christian Draheim