📋 Tender Overview
“In 2021, the federal government created a right to a minimum broadband provision for all households in Germany. Citizens have been waiting for a long time for their applications to be processed due to a lack of internet access - but the Federal Network Agency is making no progress! With over 3,000 applications from all over Germany, in no case has a network operator been obliged to expand undersupplied households. The so-called 'right to fast internet' has so far been stifled by the federal bureaucracy; it is a toothless tiger. If the federal government grants people a right to a minimum level of internet access, then it must finally enforce this right effectively. Multi-person households in rural areas in particular are being left behind digitally!”
“Bavaria had already advocated for a higher minimum coverage of 30 Mbit/s from the federal government in May 2022, 10 Mbit/s is simply not enough. However, the federal government did not show any understanding and simply announced an increase to 15 Mbit/s. The federal government must now at least fulfill this weak assurance and at least immediately increase the minimum service to the promised 15 Mbit/s,” continued Füracker.
In 2021, an amendment to the Telecommunications Act established a “right to fast internet” for every household. It states: “At a minimum, voice communication services and a high-speed Internet access service must be available for adequate social and economic participation.” In the Federal Council, Bavaria had spoken out in favor of increasing the minimum bandwidth proposed by the federal government in the downstream from 10 Mbit/s to 30 Mbit/s (definition of “fast Internet”), but the federal government set the minimum coverage at 10 Mbit/s. Even before the vote in the Federal Council, the federal government promised to increase the minimum coverage to 15 Mbit/s by mid-2023 at the latest. That hasn't happened yet.
In 2022, the Federal Council stated in a resolution that setting a minimum coverage of just 10 Mbit/s would not meet citizens' expectations of an effective minimum coverage of Internet. Especially in multi-person households, the specified 10 Mbit/s in the downstream is not enough for parallel home office, home schooling and video streaming.
