This is an anticipation of 1.4 billion euros, which will be available for expansion by 2026 and will be awarded on the basis of new funding guidelines as soon as these have been notified in Brussels under state aid law, said Minister Elisabeth Köstinger in a press conference with LH Thomas Stelzer and State Councilor Markus Achleitner (all ÖVP) on Tuesday.
The 184 million euros are to be used to finance 67 expansion projects in Upper and Lower Austria, Carinthia and Styria. According to the minister in Linz, these are already planned and positively assessed projects in rural areas from the Access 6 program. With Tuesday there is the “budgetary OK”.
“Our ambitious goal is to provide all of Austria with gigabit connections across the board by 2030,” said Köstinger. This is already the case in 45 percent of households, 58 percent are supplied with 5G. She is concerned with equal opportunities between rural areas and cities, as well as competitiveness, since industrial companies are almost always based in the country.
Upper Austria “cannot wait for other federal states”
Achleitner emphasized that “Upper Austria as the number one economic and industrial state” could not wait for other federal states to expand. With the additional funding from the Access 6 program, “planned, immediately realizable projects in more than 200 communities”, which would otherwise have been put on hold, could be continued at full speed, explained Stelzer and Achleitner. This would mean 83.5 percent of the Upper Austrian. Households have a cable connection with a capacity of more than 100 Mbit.
The 155 million euros in funding will trigger an investment of 238 million euros and Fiber Service OÖ GmbH will be able to build a further 1,550 kilometers of fiber optic lines or provide around 12,000 households with high-speed internet. Fiber Service mainly builds in those areas where fiber optic expansion does not pay off for conventional providers. At the end of June, the 1,000-kilometer mark for routes built was exceeded – since September 2017.
In total, the 184 million euros will be used to expand the broadband infrastructure for around 24,000 households, from which 70,000 people will benefit, according to the ministry. In the federal states there are 9 different systems for expanding broadband, explained Köstinger. Upper Austria has submitted many projects and is “at the top”. It also plays a role whether it is a flat federal state or an urban area.
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
