Subsidiary billions for fast internet are hardly used

The state funding for a fast Internet will be a media report, according to a little used so far. So far, only a small fraction of the billion-dollar subsidy program for broadband expansion has flown off, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung .

Berlin (dpa) – Of the already approved for the expansion 3.8 billion euros so far only about 100 million euros have been paid, so the newspaper, citing official information and a reply from Transport State Secretary Steffen Bilger ( CDU ) to a small request of Green MEPs Oliver Krischer, Margit Stumpp and Matthias Gastel . In concrete construction projects even only a good 40 million euros have flowed.

The funding program was supposed to bring faster online connections to a majority of Germans by the end of 2018. The Department of Transportation had revised the Directive in the summer to speed up the outflow of funds.

The Greens now demand further changes. “The procedure remains complex and complicated, many municipalities can not even afford the own contribution for projects,” says Stumpp the newspaper. The Transport Ministry said, according to ” SZ “, the demand for the program is very large. The success can be seen in the number of applications – not the outflow of funds. However, according to the newspaper, the ministry acknowledged that “scarce resources in the construction sector” were among the program’s biggest challenges.