The Prime Minister of the Free State of Saxony, Michael Kretschmer, and BMVI State Secretary Steffen Bilger give the go-ahead: The ground-breaking ceremony in the district of Bautzen marks the start of the largest funded broadband project to bring fiber to the home (FTTB) with 70 million euros in federal funding. Bilger: “Germany should remain at the forefront – for this we need super-fast Internet, whether in the city or in the countryside. That’s why we are launching Germany’s largest gigabit project today: over 50,000 households and almost 5,500 companies in the district of Bautzen will be connected to the broadband network with fiber optics.”
Minister President Kretschmer wants to pick up the pace: “Throughout Saxony, we want to make much faster progress with broadband expansion than before.” And Bautzen District Administrator Michael Harig: “I am delighted that the work in the district of Bautzen has started today in Schmochtitz. Fast internet connections have become an integral part of our citizens’ lives – both privately and in business. They are an important digital locational advantage.” 58 municipalities in the district of Bautzen are now being connected to high-speed Internet. To date, the federal government has provided funding of around 4.4 billion euros for the implementation of broadband expansion projects.
Photo (from left to right): Michael Kretschmer (Prime Minister of the Free State of Saxony), Timotheus Höttges (CEO of Deutsche Telekom AG), Michael Harig (District Administrator of Bautzen) and Steffen Bilger (PStS at the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure) at the ground-breaking ceremony for the broadband expansion in the district of Bautzen. 12.11.2018. Photo credit: Florian Schuh/aconium GmbH.