Federal broadband funding

Since 26 April 2021, addresses with connection speeds of up to 100 Mbit/s can be funded within the framework of the federal funding programme Gigabit (Grey Patch Programme), provided that no self-economic expansion is mandatory. A particular focus of the Graue-Flecken program is on the uncomplicated care of schools, hospitals, small and medium-sized enterprises, commercial areas, local authorities and transport hubs. These are eligible if they have not yet been connected gigabit-capable or have a download rate of less than 500 Mbit/s.

From 2023, there will in fact no longer be a catch-up threshold, so that connections that are outside black spots and are not yet gigabit-capable (< 500 Mbit/s in the download) will be eligible in principle.

Compared to its predecessor, the Federal Broadband Funding Programme (White Spots Programme), the funding was thus significantly expanded. Since November 2015, the Federal Government has supported the expansion of high-performance broadband networks throughout Germany within the framework of the White Patch Support Programme in regions where privately supported expansion has not yet been successful and where only less than 30 Mbit/s of coverage was available.

The aim of the Federal Government's broadband support programmes is to support and stimulate the telecommunications market so that a modern and sustainable high-speed network is created for all households, schools, hospitals and companies in Germany.

The object of the infrastructure support is either to cover an economic gap or to provide support by means of an operator model.

If the calculated expenditure exceeds the expected income, this is referred to as an economic gap. This deficit in the network operator can be covered by the federal support programme.

In the case of the operator model, on the other hand, the construction of the passive infrastructure, such as ducts or fibre-optic lines, is carried out by the local authority, which is then leased to private network operators for operation. The subsidy refers to capital expenditure less the present value of the rental income, which is proportionally related to the federal share of the subsidy.

As a rule, the federal government contributes between 50 and 70 % of the expansion costs with funding quotas and up to 100 % of the expenditure for planning and consulting services.

The promotion of high-performance broadband networks can only take place in underserved areas. In the grey patch support programme, an area is currently considered underserved due to EU state aid rules if less than 100 Mbit/s are available for the individual user in the download and no private sector expansion takes place. This is referred to as the threshold.

Information on the approved funding projects can be found in the funding map of the Federal Ministry of Digital Affairs and Transport (BMDV). You can find out about the status of the procedures for selecting network operators via the online portals of the responsible project promoters. For project area A (federal states: Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia) PricewaterhouseCoopers GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft in cooperation with VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik GmbH and TÜV Rheinland Consulting GmbH is the responsible project promoter (<a href="https://gigabit-projekttraeger.de" target="_blank">https://gigabit-projekttraeger.de/</a>). For project area B (federal states: Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Schleswig-Holstein), atene KOM GmbH is the responsible contact person (<a href="https://projekttraeger-breitband.de" target="_blank">https://projekttraeger-breitband.de</a>). General information on the federal broadband funding programme can be found on the website <a href="https://www.bmdv.bund.de/breitbandfoerderung" target="_blank">https://www.bmdv.bund.de/breitbandfoerderung</a>.