Düsseldorf is taking an unusual approach to expanding the Internet. In the future, the city wants to lay pipes with its municipal companies, which the network operator Vodafone then rents and fiber optic cables in. The city announced a corresponding cooperation agreement on Sunday. In addition, Vodafone should have easier access to mobile phone locations in city buildings, such as fire stations, and the approval procedure should be shortened. According to the company, which operates nationwide, the cooperation has a pioneering role for Germany, only in Cologne there is a similar cooperation.

Scarce civil engineering capacities – city solves the problem So far, Vodafone has laid the internet lines itself, but sometimes finds civil engineering companies as contractors with great difficulty. By contrast, the city has easier access through its municipal operations. “The scarce civil engineering capacities slow down the expansion of fiber optics in this country,” said Vodafone Germany boss Hannes Ametsreiter. Now you can “release the brake” together. “We are now launching a new model with the city of Düsseldorf and are accelerating the process to quickly and easily launch LTE and 5G in urban areas,” said the manager.

Düsseldorf’s Mayor Stephan Keller (CDU) said: “An efficient and comprehensive broadband supply is the basis of all efforts in digitization.” The expansion of the digital infrastructure is a joint task for which his city enters into partnerships with telecommunications companies.

Gigabit connection of all households in Düsseldorf in 5 years The cooperation is intended to accelerate the expansion of the fiber optic network and thus both the gigabit-capable landline internet and the mobile network coverage – mobile radio stations also need a connection to the fiber optic network or a link via directional radio. In five years at the latest, all households, companies and institutions in Düsseldorf should have access to the fiber optic network and thus to the fast Internet. The network coverage in the state capital of North Rhine-Westphalia is already good overall, but especially in the peripheral areas there is still weak mobile phone reception or slow network connections in some places.

(bme )