"White spots" - funding from the city of Aachen

In the presence of Lord Mayor Sibylle Keupen, representatives of the Gigabit Coordination in the city's Department of Economics, Science, Digital City and Europe as well as representatives of NetAachen GmbH, the symbolic commissioning of the subsidized fiber optic expansion in Haaren has now been celebrated as part of the Weiße-Flecken funding program. The new development area there was one of the last "white spots", an area with a weak Internet connection, in the Aachen city area. After three years of construction, the project was completed in December last year. The symbolic commissioning was intended to send a clear signal to the region that Aachen is connected to the future.

A comprehensive fibre optic infrastructure is one of the most important investments for Aachen as a business location and is at the heart of digitalization. It enables modern applications such as cloud services, video conferencing and the Internet of Things (IoT). A reliable and fast internet connection is crucial in order to remain competitive and deliver top performance. At the same time, a high-performance fiber optic network is also the basis for new mobile communications standards such as 5G. Remote working, e-learning and telemedicine are also not possible without a stable and fast internet connection.

The project, which was implemented by NetAachen, was funded by the federal government, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the city of Aachen. Lord Mayor Sibylle Keupen emphasized the importance of this expansion for the region and said: "The city of Aachen absolutely needs a modern infrastructure for its Smart City plans. Especially for a business, technology and science location like Aachen, a comprehensive fibre optic infrastructure is the basis for digitalization and further development."

The aim of the project, which had a funding volume of around 7.5 million euros, was to provide all addresses with less than 30 Mbit/s download speeds with fiber optics. During the three years of construction work, 589 house connections were built for around 1,000 households, 75 commercial enterprises and institutions and around 70 kilometers of new routes and over 215 kilometers of fibre optic cable were created. Andreas Schneider, Managing Director of NetAachen GmbH, praised the good cooperation with the City of Aachen and thanked the residents for their patience and understanding. The money was enough, he explained, and even a few more addresses were supplied than planned.

The completion of the project marks an important milestone for Aachen on the way to nationwide fiber optic coverage. "In Aachen, we have over 80 percent gigabit-capable connections, of which around 28 percent are fiber optic and additional Internet via cable connection. This actually puts us in a pretty good position," explained Stefan Döhler, Gigabit Coordinator for the City of Aachen.

The federal government's goal is to supply the whole of Aachen with fiber optics by 2030. However, there is currently a shortfall of around 35,000 connections, explained Dieter M. Begaß, Head of the city's Department of Economic Affairs, Science, Digital City and Europe. In the future, the federal government's grey-spot funding program will therefore help to supply areas that are uneconomical for the private sector with non-gigabit-capable connections with state-of-the-art fibre optic technology.

Following the completion of all construction, technical and sales requirements for connection to the NetAachen systems, the fiber optic network funded by the federal and state governments and the City of Aachen was successfully put into operation on 29.12.2023. Residents and businesses can now access digital services super-fast via reliable data connections. The new fiber optic network offers transmission rates of up to 1,000 megabits or 1 gigabit per second and even more if required.

Fiber optic infrastructure is an essential investment with which we are laying the foundation for the digital future of our city. This is an important step towards making Aachen one of the leading smart cities, meeting the challenges of the constantly changing technological landscape and enormously strengthening the competitiveness and quality of life in all regions of Aachen. For this reason, the fiber optic expansion is continuing to progress purposefully even after the successful completion of the project. Promising talks are currently being held with several telecommunications companies that are interested in a large-scale, privately financed expansion in Aachen.

Cluster 8 originally comprised three localities; two further locations in the northern area of Cluster 6 were subsequently included. The expansion route has a length of 9 km of new construction route and 2 km of existing pipe, connecting a further 63 buildings to NetAachen's fiber optic network. Due to the predominant use of the flush drilling method, no special tree protection measures were required.

Green: Clusters with newly constructed infrastructure required to operate the fiber optic network
Yellow: Areas with established fiber optic end customer connections

The civil engineering work in Cluster 6, funded by the federal government, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the city of Aachen, has been completed. This expansion cluster is located in the west of Aachen and extends to the Belgian border. A boundary in the road required a building application to the municipality of Kelmis, which was granted at short notice.
This meant that a further 91 house connections could be created, which were connected via a newly created 12 km extension route, and 3 km of existing pipe were also used for the connection.

Green: Clusters with newly constructed infrastructure required to operate the fiber optic network
Yellow: Areas with established fiber optic end customer connections

As part of the funding project, financed by the federal government, the state and the city of Aachen, around 10 km of new routes were created in the Berensberg and Haaren districts and in the Krefelder Straße area, creating almost 140 additional fiber optic house connections. Various contracts and compliance with corresponding conditions were necessary for the crossing of sensitive infrastructure, bodies of water or areas of high archaeological significance.

Green: Clusters with newly constructed infrastructure required to operate the fiber optic network
Yellow: Areas with established fiber optic end customer connections

A further 100 buildings in Forster Linde, Lintert and Kreuzerdriesch were supplied with modern and future-proof fiber optic infrastructure as part of the funding project, financed by the federal and state governments and the city of Aachen. New routes with a total length of approx. 6,500 m were created for this purpose. In addition to an open construction method and flush drilling, the nature of the ground meant that special rock drilling machines had to be used on some sections. Other special features of this area necessitated archaeological monitoring and an evaluation for the clearance of explosive ordnance.

Green: Clusters with newly constructed infrastructure required to operate the fiber optic network
Yellow: Areas with established fiber optic end customer connections

Cluster 5 in the western and southern areas close to the city center was also completed thanks to broadband funding from the federal and state governments and the city of Aachen through NetAachen GmbH. The focus of this cluster was on connecting 9 schools with fiber optics, ensuring that they are equipped to meet the ever-increasing demands on digital infrastructure in the future. Three of the schools are located in the listed old town, which meant that the expansion was carried out with particular care and under strict conditions such as constant archaeological monitoring. The stricter requirements for tree protection in the context of climate change were also taken into account. These inner-city tree populations and green spaces in general are an essential and valuable component of the urban climate. For the most part, existing pipes were used to pull in the conveyed pipework, and around 900 m of new route was also built.

Green: Clusters with newly constructed infrastructure required to operate the fiber optic network
Yellow: Areas with established fiber optic end customer connections

We are delighted that the fiber optic expansion cluster 4 in the eastern part of the city has been completed by NetAachen GmbH. Thanks to the subsidized broadband expansion of the federal government, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the city of Aachen, educational institutions, citizens and businesses in these parts of the city can now also benefit from fast and future-proof fibre optic connections. In order to reach the addresses, some of which are very remote, over 8200 m of fiber optic cable was laid.

Green: Clusters with newly constructed infrastructure required to operate the fiber optic network
Yellow: Areas with established fiber optic end customer connections

Thanks to the subsidized broadband expansion by the federal government, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the city of Aachen, around 150 properties in the north of Aachen's urban area, for which no network operator has indicated an interest in expansion in the near future, have been connected to NetAachen GmbH's fibre optic network.

We are delighted that residents and businesses in the completed expansion areas around Horbach, Vetschau, Richterich, Laurensberg, Orsbach and Seffent now have access to bandwidths of up to 1000 Mbit/s instead of the less than 30 Mbit/s previously available.

Green: Clusters with newly constructed infrastructure required to operate the fiber optic network
Yellow: Areas with established fiber optic end customer connections

Long awaited and frequently requested: the expansion of the new development area "Am Gutshof" above the Lindenschule will start shortly after a number of unexpected delays; all affected owners have been informed. As almost the only underserved island in the Haaren area, this area will now be connected to fiber optics. Due to the narrowness and the numerous paved areas in this area, obstructions caused by the construction work are unfortunately unavoidable. We can only ask for your understanding for any inconvenience this may cause.

After considerable planning effort, the expansion in the Soers, Ferberberg and Zum Blauen Stein area will start shortly. All property owners affected by the subsidized fibre optic expansion have now been contacted. Due to the partially scattered individual locations, cable work is required over long distances. We therefore apologize for any short-term traffic obstructions, especially at the narrow sections of Rütscher Strasse and Ferberberg. However, as the civil engineering company commissioned to carry out the work will largely be using the flush drilling method, the impact should be limited.

In the next few days, we will be sending letters to the owners of the marked areas in the Hitfeld area who are underserved in terms of their Internet connection and can therefore receive a publicly subsidized fibre optic connection. These letters contain a form with which you grant NetAachen permission to carry out the necessary work on your property. As things stand at present, the work will begin in April and be completed by the end of August 2021. We ask for your understanding now for the necessary work on the roads and sidewalks.

As part of the expansion of the "white spots" in the city area, work will soon begin on the construction section around Kornelimünster. In numerous individual locations around the town center, the affected property owners in the marked areas will receive letters requesting permission for the necessary installation work. As with the entire project, the company NetAachen is also laying fiber optic cables right into the buildings. As it is often necessary to work in narrow country lanes in these areas, we ask for your understanding for the unavoidable, short-term obstructions.

Over the next few days, the owners of the planned construction sections around Horbach will be contacted and asked for permission to carry out laying work on their properties. In the next few weeks, work will begin on the fiber optic expansion in the marked areas that have not yet been able to have access to modern bandwidths.

Since mid-February, the first concrete construction work has been underway in the construction sections around Orsbach. The households in the Lemiers, Seffent and Vetschauer Berg areas are being upgraded. In addition to traditional civil engineering, trenching is also being used here, in which narrow slots are milled into the asphalt to lay the fiber optic cables.

Professor Dr. Andreas Pinkwart, NRW Minister for Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalization and Energy, Lord Mayor Marcel Philipp and NetAachen Managing Director Andreas Schneider officially launched the expansion of the city's fibre optic network today with a joint ground-breaking ceremony at the small hiking parking lot on the corner of Schurzelter Straße and Schneebergweg.
The broadband expansion will now begin in the Lemiers, Seffent and Vetschauer Berg areas, for which planning permission has already been granted.

Compared to the rest of Germany, the city of Aachen already has a good supply of modern Internet connections. Nevertheless, there are households with inadequate or no coverage with wired broadband connections, particularly on the outskirts of the city.

For this reason, the City of Aachen has identified all households, schools and commercial enterprises that can provide a regular bandwidth of <30 Mbit/s and for which no provider has indicated an interest in expansion in the near future.

The city of Aachen successfully applied for funding from the federal and state governments for the approximately 1,100 households, schools and businesses identified, and the city budget is also contributing its own share. Following an extensive application process and a Europe-wide tender for the measure, the expansion was awarded to NetAachen GmbH.

The very small-scale expansion areas are spread across the entire city and have been divided into 25 construction phases, which will be completed by the end of the project term in July 2021. The expansion will be carried out exclusively using fiber optic technology right into the building (FTTH/FTTB).

As part of this measure, 70 km of civil engineering work will be carried out and over 200 km of fiber optic cables will be laid. The total investment is around EUR 7 million.

Work will start at the beginning of January 2020 in the Lemiers construction section, followed a little later by Seffent and the Vetschauer Berg area.

You will be informed here as soon as the schedule for the further course of the construction work has been finalized.

Owners of the properties earmarked for expansion will be comprehensively informed by NetAachen in advance and, if necessary, asked for permission to carry out work on the property.

Further information on federal broadband funding can be found here.