MUNICH (dpa-AFX) – After the premature cessation of funding for fiber optic expansion this year, 15 federal states and the central municipal associations are demanding the immediate resumption of subsidies. In a fire letter to the federal government, they also complain that so far “no reliable funds” have been promised for the expansion of the broadband network for 2023 either. The current application freeze must be “repealed and the new funding on January 1st, 2023 should be directly connected to the existing funding,” says the letter to the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Affairs available to the dpa, copies went to the Federal Chancellery and the Ministry of Finance.
All federal states have signed with the exception of Hesse and the Association of Cities and Districts, as well as the Association of Towns and Municipalities. The federal government stopped its gigabit funding for this year on October 17 because the budgeted three billion euros will not last until the end of the year due to high demand.
There is currently a great deal of uncertainty, criticized Bavaria’s Finance Minister Albert Füracker. “No one in Berlin tells us what stage of the process has to be reached in order not to get anything, to have to wait first, to have to reschedule,” said the CSU politician with sarcastic mockery. “Such an abrupt halt to funding without any prior warning only suggests clear mismanagement by the federal government.”
In the letter, the 15 federal states and the municipal associations argue that fast internet connections are important for the German economy. “Unlike the current relief packages or the gas price brake, it’s not about consumer spending, but about sustainable shaping of the future,” the letter says. “There are already deficits here in Germany. Further delays are unacceptable.”
## Correction
– Corrected at the end of the 1st paragraph: Ministry of Transport
and digital instead of Federal Ministry of Economics/cho/DP/he