Bavaria: Fast internet available for almost all households in the state

Munich (dpa / lby) - The expansion of Internet fiber optic connections in Bavaria is making progress.

Bavaria: Fast internet available for almost all households in the state

Munich (dpa / lby) - The expansion of Internet fiber optic connections in Bavaria is making progress. Since 2014, 61,000 kilometers of new lines have been laid with money from Bavarian funding programs, Finance and Homeland Minister Albert Füracker (CSU) said on Tuesday.

Around 98 percent of all households in Bavaria are connected to high-speed Internet (at least 30 Mbit per second). 91 percent of all households can rely on a transmission of at least 100 Mbit per second, 64 percent even receive in the gigabit range.

According to its own information, the Free State has so far invested 1.7 billion euros in the expansion of fiber optic connections. If the subsidies from municipalities and the federal government are included, the amount is 2.6 billion.

According to Füracker, the "Glass fiber to schools" support program that was set up in 2018 is also having an effect. 58 percent of public schools now have a direct fiber optic connection, 32 percent are under construction and a further nine percent still want to be connected. In most cases, however, the bandwidths in the gigabit range are not fully used. An Mbit connection is currently sufficient for many schools.

The connection to high-speed Internet was also expanded in rural areas. There, Bavaria is the nationwide leader with a supply of around 94 percent. In 2013, only 27 percent of rural communities in Bavaria were connected. The laying of new lines is particularly difficult and expensive due to the sparse population in the country. Where the network providers would not advance the fiber optic expansion on their own, the state government would step in. "We do it because nobody else does it," said Füracker.

The funding program is still necessary - by 2025 all households in the Free State should be able to use bandwidths in the gigabit range.