CONNECTIONS_60-e

Success
fiber optic Internet. A success in which a new
development by R&M Germany is playing an
important role: the turnkey PoP (Point of
Presence) station.
Town initiative
It all started with a unanimous vote by the
town council in April 2015. They decided that
broadband provision is in fact a basic need
and thus a task the town has to actively take
in hand.
030.7192
A Gigabit Network
for Halle
Slow Internet connections are a challenge for lots of
towns and cities. Citizens should have equal rights when
it comes to participating in the information society and
digital opportunities. The northwest German town of Halle,
Westphalia, has found the ideal solution.
«In the information society, fast Internet is
just as important in terms of infrastructure
as drinking water or electricity, cycle paths,
roads and rail networks,» says Jochen Strieckmann,
CEO of hallewestfalen.net GmbH. And
it’s not just hot air, but something that is being
put into practice in Halle. Considerable efforts
are being made to ensure that undersupplied
districts receive full broadband coverage.
And that will be the case in the summer of
2021. Because that is when 800 buildings,
1,132 private homes, 261 companies and 20
schools will have free access to gigabit-fast
Their ambitious goal was to establish their
very own continuous, maximum-speed
fiber-optic network – financed, built and
leased by a dedicated company. This is why,
in the fall of 2016, Halle, Westphalia founded
the company hallewestfalen.net GmbH as a
wholly owned subsidiary of the town. This
independence brings with it a whole range
of advantages, but also challenges.
Outer districts at a disadvantage
The project focused on the outer districts
of the town and its rural areas, specifically
the «white spots» on the broadband map.
They were deemed undersupplied because
telecommunication companies offer less
than 30 Mbit/s download speed here with
no investments in FTTH. A communal supplier
such as hallewestfalen.net is allowed
to supply end users in such areas whereas
competition with private-sector providers is
not allowed in well-supplied town centers.
These are the competition rules.
Despite these clear prerequisites, there were
numerous hurdles to obtaining approval for
this key project. Among other things, rights of
use for public traffic areas had to be applied
for from the state supervisor, the German
Federal Network Agency.
«There’s nothing better than what we are building here.»
Jochen Strieckmann, CEO of hallewestfalen.net GmbH
Patience was needed until government
funding was ready, covering 90 % of the
project costs totaling 21 million EUR. The
money comes from the state of North
030.7191
050.7036 050.7037 030.7267 050.7038 030.7266
18 | CONNECTIONS 04|2021–60