Abstract Broadband Study

Successful municipal and regional projects in overcoming gaps in broadband provision.

A rese arch on behalf of the ministry of economics and technology. S uccessful municipal and regional projects in overcoming gaps in broadband provision.

Imprint

Purchaser Ministry for Economics Scharnhorststraße 34-37 D-10115 Berlin Germany

Text and Editing Agentur für Kommunikation und kommunales Management (atene KOM) GmbH Managing Director: Tim Brauckmüller Amtsgericht Berlin Charlottenburg HRB 111699

Editorial Deadline 23. Februar 2010

Authors Tim Brauckmüller Gordon Albrecht Eike Gutt Jörn Henrich-Matejka

Contact atene KOM GmbH Georgenstraße 24 D-10117 Berlin Telefon: 030 6098990-0 Telefax: 030 6098990-99 E-Mail: [email protected] www.atenekom.eu 3 C ontent

1. Abstract...... 4

2. Method of research...... 6 2.1 Outline of the problem ...... 6 2.2. Aims ...... 6 2.3. Data collection ...... 7 2.4. Subject of the study ...... 8 2.5. Sample of best practice examples...... 8

3. Best practice examples...... 10 3.1. Examples from an economic perspective ...... 11 3.2. Examples from an administrative point of view ...... 19 3.3. Examples from a technological perspective ...... 28 3.4. Other best practice examples...... 35

4. Conclusions...... 36 4.1. Challenges for project participants ...... 37 4.2. Demand analysis, feasibility studies and information events...... 38 4.3. Topographical conditions and choice of technology ...... 39 4.4. Financing: opening markets and funding ...... 39 4.5. Solution partners of communes and regions ...... 40 4.6. Contracts and access prices for customers ...... 40

5. Recommendations for action...... 42 5.1. Administrative approach ...... 42 5.2. Economic perspective ...... 45 5.3. Technological approach ...... 47

6. Checklist for municipal broadband projects...... 50 S uccessful municipal and regional projects in overcoming gaps in broadband provision.

1A bstract

In the past 15 years, the Internet has developed rapidly both technically and in content. Whereas at the beginning only few offers were available, mainly consisting of text documents, there has been an increase in new multimedia content over the years. The technical development, known today as web 2.0, has contributed to the fundamental change not only in the technical conditions and standards but also in the way services and content are used today.

The relevance of a fast internet connec- lability of qualified personnel.3 A decis- tion and the disadvantages of having ive factor for the location of households poor access are basically indisputable. and small businesses is the availability Not only in the telecommunications sec- of broadband internet and the access to tor broadband is a central growth fac- information and the communication pos- tor. Economic growth can be effected by sibilities that come with it. The unavaila- improved communication possibilities.1 bility of broadband can lead to structural Increased productivity and new areas of problems in the affected regions and can business are connected to that and can in the worst case lead to moving away of have a positive effect on employment in firms and young people. the long run.2 In the past years the telecommunication In questionnaires firms measure the same companies have invested huge amounts importance to broadband connection as in the modernization and expansion of to convenient traffic accessibility or avai- Germany’s broadband infrastructure. Even in the coming years, extensive in- 1 See: OECD – The role of communication inf- vestments are planned in the develop- rastructure investment in economic recovery ment of the network. (2009) p. 5

2 See: Katz et al (2009): Die Wirkung des Breitbandausbaus auf Arbeitsplätze und die 3 See: Breitbandzugang als Standortfaktor für deutsche Volkswirtschaft Unternehmen im ländlichen Raum Baden- Württembergs 2009 5 Today 22 million of the 24 million broad- the past years makes it possible to use band connections are DSL connections radio linked technology to provide cus- integrated in the classic telephone con- tomers with a high data speed. Internet nection.4 A pioneer in the expansion is connections are now being offered more “Deutsche Telekom AG” which as a priva- and more using radio networks which are tized company plays a huge role in the im- based on WLAN or WiMAX. Mobile com- provement of provision. With that Deut- munication systems have won in signifi- sche Telekom AG plays an important role cance as a medium of transfer for large in expansion of infrastructure especially data packages since the auction of UMTS in rural municipalities and regions in spite frequencies. With the further develop- of the steep competition which is carried ment of UMTS, HSPA, fast internet con- out in price. The economic pressure has nections can be used on the way. led to expansion being carried out only when profitable even for the former state The research „Successful regional pro- owned firm. jects in overcoming gaps in broadband provision“ should show how overcoming Competition in the telecommunica- broadband provision gaps can be achie- tion sector has led to a diversification of ved at local and regional level. This abs- technological approaches. Even if DSL is tract gives an overview on the results of the widest used connection technology, this research. alternative technologies are constantly taking ground in market participation.5 First firms have started laying glass fiber cables in areas with high population density with which they directly connect their customers. These connections, known as „fiber to the home“ (FTTH) are considered to be a secure investment because they provide almost unlimited bandwidth. Even cable network companies are beginning to upgrade their existing network in many towns and municipalities to facilitate use of telephone and internet in addition to digital television recepti- on. Thanks to this investment, 1.9 million users are online using the TV cable connection. With that, broadband using television cable has become the second most important connection technology.

In recent times, radio technology has become increasingly important in establishing broadband internet connections. The technological development in

4 See: EU Commission COCOM09-29, p. 10

5 See:EU (2009): Broadband access in the EU (COCOM09-29) S uccessful municipal and regional projects in overcoming gaps in broadband provision.

6 2M ethod of Research

2.1 Outline of the problem

The increasing diversity of connection easy to solve: In 2009 the overall pro- technology and the increasing bandwidth vision for households in Germany with on one hand is counteracted by regions the minimum requirement of 1Mbit/s in in which modernization of existing, or downstream was 96.7%. This figure how- establishment of new infrastructure is ever does not show that there is a pro- not possible or only possible at very high vision problem for small municipalities costs due to topographical issues or low in rural areas and that some regions are customer potential. In most of the areas completely unprovided for, these are the that are currently under-served, the di- so called white spots. stance between the multiplier and customer are so large that it is not possible, These regional disparities are a result of with the existing copper cables, to pro- a low number of potential customers in vide a broadband internet connection rural areas. Due to the sparse settlement based on prevalent DSL-technology. the investment costs are comparatively At first glance, the problem of poor pro- higher than in urban areas and the profi- vision of broadband internet seems tability is achieved a lot later. 2.2 Aims

The German federal government wants blanket coverage of broadband connec- to give the expansion of broadband in- tion by the end of 2010 frastructure more impulses. At the be- • By 2014, 75% of households should ginning of 2009, the federal government have connections with speeds of at least drafted ambitious goals in the framework 50Mbit/s with the target of having blan- of the broadband strategy6: ket coverage of such connections.

• Gaps in broadband provision should be The package of measures in the broad- closed and there should be an efficient, band strategy envisions promoting the use of synergies in the expansion of inf- 6 See: Broadband Strategy of the Federal Go- rastructure, guaranteeing a supportive vernnnment (Breitbandstrategie der Bundes- regierung, 2009) p. 5 frequency policy, a growth and innova- 7 tion oriented regulation and providing les, which inspire decision makers at local necessary funding through different sup- and municipal councils to embark on ex- port programs. The federal government pansion in their areas of jurisdiction. The plays a big role in supporting the munici- initial conditions are different, in terms pal councils. of topography, demography, political and economical situation, existing infra- The research carried out in the autumn of structure and commitment of local par- 2009 aimed to show how the problem of ticipants - these are important but very broadband provision gaps can be solved individual and partly dynamic factors at local and regional level. The core of that largely determine the success of an the research was to show good examp- expansion project.

2.3 Data collection

The central part of the research are good contacted directly. examples which visualize the possibilities as well as the difficulties in expan- Based on the data collected with the sion of infrastructure in different regi- questionnaire, detailed information on ons of Germany. The documentation of the content of the project and approach such projects differs greatly in quality was collected through semi-standardized and quantity. This is why a standardized expert interviews with local participants questionnaire followed by targeted in- as well as those involved in the projects terviews were used to collect and analyze and users. necessary information. While data was being collected, emphasis The questionnaire concentrated on coll- was laid on interviewing different people ecting the main aspects of each project. involved in the same project but playing These included the financial, size and differing roles. This procedure was to en- time scope, the size of the provision gap, sure an objective picture of the project the approach used as well as the main approach. The goal of the interviews was participants and the person responsible to identify motives of action and questi- for the project. In addition the persons ons set that were considered relevant to responsible for all participating projects project procedure. were requested to provide information material such as press releases, short The research is aimed at collecting quali- descriptions, protocols and similar docu- ty data. The most important aspect is to ments for evaluation. get information on the approach, about the motives behind the decisions of par- In order to achieve a broad diversifica- ticipants and to content design of the tion of the research and with that a large projects. This approach is maintained in number of projects that are potentially the analysis of the data. From the qua- interesting for the research, the questi- litative data material, hypotheses were onnaire was electronically distributed to formulated, resulting conclusions drawn more than 800 multipliers. In addition, and recommendations for course of ac- responsible people from regional and tion made. countrywide broadband projects were S uccessful municipal and regional projects in overcoming gaps in broadband provision.

2.4 Subject of study

Large structural differences were made By sketching the frameworks, the com- clear while analyzing the projects, the plexity of each project is made clear. In- reason being the individual frameworks terdisciplinary diversity is characteristic under which the projects are realized. of all cases which intertwine technologi- This leads to a multitude of strategies and cal and business administrative aspects thesis of the players to solve the problem as well as the topographical data. of under-provision. Many projects are in an ongoing develop- Among the factors that determine the ment process to meet the increasing need framework are mainly the topography for broadband as well as accommodate of the region at hand (settlement struc- the future demographic development. A ture, geology, natural barriers), the size short implementation time for projects is and form of the provision gap (number of basically desirable if it leads to solving the households unprovided for), the adminis- problem quickly. Still, long term projects trative situation (number of participants, that target construction of a high poten- jurisdiction) and the resources available tial broadband infrastructure are most (present infrastructure, resources). Each welcome. of the investigated projects has an individual character in terms of framework.

2.5 Sample of best practice examples

Many considerations resulted in selec- 2. Transferability of procedure tion and characterization as an example The realization of the project or parts of best-practice. The central aspect was of it show a pioneer approach that fulfilment of defined success indicators could offer future projects important which make a project a model relevant to impulses. other regions and municipalities and at least partly transferable. In the research 3. Foresighted solutions at hand, success of an expansion of com- The infrastructure has been implemen- munication infrastructure project will be ted sustainably from a financial and measured against the following 3 indica- technological point of view. This invol- tors: ves the bandwidth and the scalability and the extensibility of the technical 1. Adherence to national goals. infrastructure as well as a model of fi- The goals of the examined projects has nancing that is competitive, works pro- to be conform with the broadband stra- fitably and guarantees a network - ex tegy of Germany’s federal government pansion from a financial point of view. from the year 2009, which means infrastructure expansion with minimum In a further step, the chosen 30 best of 1Mbit/s short term and planning or practice examples were categorized ac- building a future infrastructure with a cording to the main areas of activity minimum of 50Mbit/s. which were depicted when interviewing the project participants. These areas of 9 activity are going to be titled „economic“, practice in the category „technical“ ex- „technological“, „administrative“ and hibit good and especially sustainable so- „other“ in this research. The classification lutions in implementing expansion. The in a category means that the project is a category „others“ contains examples role model in the specified area of activity that are not directly imitable for example and procedure seems suitable for emula- because of the specific starting situation. tion by other regions and municipalities. Still, these projects demonstrate in some areas interesting approaches for example To the category „economical“ belong the technological or financial implemen- the best practice examples which are tation that offer impulses for other regi- role models in terms of their economical ons in their search for solutions. framework and strategies of financing. To the category „administrative“ belong All federal states (with the exception of examples that demonstrate good pro- city states) were, where possible, equally ject organization at different levels and taken into consideration in choosing. the roles of municipal councils as well as other participants. Examples of best S uccessful municipal and regional projects in overcoming gaps in broadband provision.

10 3 Best Practice Examples

The problem of under-provision is pre- solution for the expansion of infrastruc- sent in the different regions of Germany: ture in a given situation. They are more the lowlands of northern Germany are of examples that have found feasible so- affected just as the hilly landscape of the lutions in given individual situations to Harz foothills are or the regions with pri- close provision gaps in their respective me location in the south of Baden-Wuert- regions. temberg. In a large number of examples, the success is based on initiatives of citizens or The examples that are examined in this local firms. It was often a cooperation at research are located all over the repub- public and private level that created the lic. Because of this, it is possible to show solutions for broadband expansion. a variety of initial conditions which could act as stimulus for own solutions. This is Using present infrastructure is to be con- the case for topographical conditions as sidered sustainable and cost reducing. well for specific political and administ- Many projects have made use of this op- rative conditions which could differ from tion. Interesting and successful results one federal state to another. Not only the were also brought up by the use of alter- initial conditions are interesting, but also native technology, mostly radio techno- the different solutions that are used in si- logy or a mix of technologies. milar conditions.

The examples in this study are not the conventional best-practice examples; they do not depict the one and only valid 11

3.1 Examples from an economic perspective

To the category „economic“ belong the pansion in Cuxhaven. On the basis of the best practice examples that are role mo- help of targeted public awareness it was dels in terms of their economical frame- possible to illustrate the necessity and work and financial strategy. made it possible for service providers to act fast. The expansion done by Deutsche Municipality of Beverungen (NRW) Telekom AG was the initial spark that led The driving force of this expansion pro- to infrastructure provision with the most ject was a citizens’ initiative. Through the modern broadband technology. After the commitment and competence of citizens establishment of blanket coverage of DSL involved, different solutions were looked infrastructure there was a modernizati- into and a necessity analysis was done. on of TV cable network. In addition there With their support it was possible in spi- was a FTTH network built in Cuxhaven. te of topographical hindrances to build a wireless network which is run by a private Municipality of Mulda (SN) internet service provider. The example shows that it is possible, in spite of reservations towards a techno- County of Birkenfeld (RP) logy, to regain confidence through direct This example demonstrates that availa- dialogue. A radio based network was used ble resources often help find a soluti- to provide a region that has difficult geo- on. Existing networks, previously used graphic conditions with broadband in- primarily for commercial purposes and ternet. The scalability of the technology existing empty conduit capacity help to enables the network to be run profitably provide services cost effectively. Pooling with less than 50 users and can quickly be demand makes a calculation of profitabi- expanded at any time. lity possible. Confidence of the municipal council and citizens in this case provided Municipality of Oerel, districts of Oerel a credible solution. und Barchel (NI) The municipality decided on a public- Municipality of Blankenheim, district of private cooperation with a third party Alendorf, Ripsdorf and Waldorf (NRW) provider to provide blanket coverage To provide the component localities of broadband internet, after the local ser- the municipality of Blankenheim with vice provider declined service provision. broadband internet connection, a citi- The participation of the municipal coun- zens’ initiative was decisive for the suc- cil in the company „Oerel, unser Ortsnetz cess. The costs of infrastructure provision co ltd” secures its say in the future. The not covered by municipal financing could transparent approach of the mayor and be avoided only through own effort. See trading off the alternatives with the ci- below for a detailed description of this tizens increased confidence in the solu- example. tion finally agreed upon. It was thus not difficult to involve inhabitants in the rea- City of Cuxhaven (NI) lization so as to reduce costs. The FTTH Founding a citizens’ initiative and the technology implemented is future orien- commitment of many helpers was what ted and guarantees even in a number of placed emphasis on the necessity of ex- years a high performance connection. S uccessful municipal and regional projects in overcoming gaps in broadband provision.

Municipality of Seddiner See, district municipality. See below for a detailed de- Neuseddin (BB) scription of this example. This example makes it clear that the choice of technical components plays Municipality of Wenden(NRW) a vital role in the reliability of a wireless With the implementation of a reliab- solution. In spite of the bankruptcy of a le WLAN technology it was possible to service provider, a new network provider make provision for an entire industrial managed to regain the confidence of the area which would have remained under- population in the application of wireless serviced. Wireless technology proves to technology. be efficient enough to provide companies in an industrial areas with necessa- Municipality of Sternenfels (BW) ry services for example support of VoIP The example in Sternenfels shows the ne- systems. The decisive factor for this was, cessity of looking for alternative partners apart from the technical solution, the even if they are not in the industry when joint financing of the project. The com- established service providers refuse to mune provided loans that made the de- cooperate. Only getting in touch with velopment possible and that made the the local administrative union Bodensee- industrial property attractive for rent or Wasserversorgung and the Sparkassen- acquisition. IT made it possible to reach not only the company Hartchrom-Schoch but also Two best practices will be presented in the population and the companies in the more detail in the following section.

Municipality Blankenheim, districts Alendorf, Ripsdorf and Waldorf State Through the effort of about 60 citizens in the municipality of Blankenheim, a North Rhine-Westphalia 4km distance was dug up to lay glass fibre cable. This made provision of new Area connections possible by the use of an existing backbone within a very short 50 km² time.

Population 1,120

Population density 22 inhabitants per km²

1. Initial situation

Blankenheim is located about 27 km sou- Eifel. Blankenheim is divided in 17 both-west of the district town Euskirchen, roughs. Due to many streets and isolated on the west boarder of the Ahrgebirge/ farmsteads, the area is very scattered. 13

The area, two thirds of which is fores- more than 384 kbit/s downstream, be- ted, has an average difference of 100m cause of the large distances to the main with the highest altitude at 500m above multipliers. Coaxial and/or TV cable net- sea level. 3 of the 17 boroughs, Alendorf, work is not available in those 3 districts. Waldorf and Ripsdorf, are especially un- Data connection via radio service is not der-serviced. possible in most areas due to inadequate The existing copper cable does not allow network coverage.

2. Scope and Technology

Description of applied technology speed connection with 16Mbits/s maxi- To install broadband in the affected dis- mum. In addition to the excavations, the tricts Alendorf, Waldorf and Ripsdorf it citizens had to provide related road cons- was necessary to install a faster con- truction and landscaping. nection to the multiplier of Deutsche Te- lekom in Ahrmühle. The multiplier was Declaration of speed, tariff arrange- previously fed by copper cable and had ments and pricing: to be equipped with up to date circuitry. * up to 2,048 kbit/s downstream and up According to Deutsche Telekom there is a to 192 kbit/s upstream, €29,95 a month, glass fibre backbone available 3,9 km off 12 month term of contract Ahrmühle close to the town Esch on the * up to 6,016 kbit/s downstream and up to route Cologne – Trier. 576 kbit/s upstream, €39,95 a month, 24 month term of contract To connect the multiplier to the backbone * up to 16,000kbit/s downstream and up it is necessary to install a glass fibre cable. to 1,024 kbit/s upstream, €49,95 a month, In three months’ time about 60 citizens of 24 term of contract the affected districts dug a 60cm deep pipe route in which they embedded duct- All packages offered included an internet work which was provided by Deutsche Te- flat rate. There is a one-time connection lekom. The district Waldorf is located on fee of €59,95. The provider offers instal- this route and could get connected during lation services for €69,98. The customer the initial work. receives a splitter free of charge in the mail. It is possible to order a WLAN rou- The glass fibre cable got connected to the ter for an additional monthly fee. Voice- multiplier in Ahrmühle. The districts Rips- over-IP is possible in all options. Triple- dorf and Alendorf, both are about 1,5km Play-service is available for an additional off Ahrmühle and over this distance the monthly fee. existing copper cables can provide a high

3. Project description

End of 2006 the district mayor of Rips- inquiries the district mayor contacted the dorf in the municipality Blankenheim was local telephone provider via mail. When confronted with the problem of missing he did not receive a reply, he initiated a broadband internet for the first time. petition to put emphasis on his request. Particularly younger citizens of Ripsdorf About 300 citizens of Ripsdorf signed the addressed this several times. Due to these petition. S uccessful municipal and regional projects in overcoming gaps in broadband provision.

In early 2007 the municipality again tur- ment of the pipes. ned to the provider with this petition and another letter. A couple of month later In late march the excavations began on- a citizen of neighbouring Waldorf pre- time. The municipality provided an exca- sented an idea to the district mayor to vator free of charge. The volunteers were connect the multiplier to the glass fibre assigned to different shifts during six day backbone of Telekom near Esch, 3,9km a week to excavate the 3,9km long and off Ripsdorf. 60cm deep pipe route.

This idea was presented to Deutsche Te- The provider had previously delivered the lekom and they were willing to negotiate. pipes and the lava sand needed. During In early 2008 they presented an offer at the excavations a contact person of the the city hall. The municipality was left provider was present and documented with two options: 1. The provider deve- the forthcoming. The pipes were installed lops the connection and the municipality end of May 2009. A contractor of the will be presented with the bill or 2. Muni- provider connected the glass fibre cable. cipality and citizens will provide all neces- Finally the multiplier got rewired and up- sary labour to install the pipes needed to graded. connect the multiplier to the backbone. The second option was chosen due to la- An open council was held to thank the vo- cking funds and so municipality and citi- lunteers for their work and commitment zens dug and installed the pipes themsel- and to report the completion of the ins- ves. tallation.

An open council of municipality and pro- The provider informed the audience vider was held shortly after to inform all about the possibilities that were given citizens of the three districts. A great ma- and offered by the new broadband-inter- jority approved of the plan, to install the net connection. The customers were con- pipes themselves to save funds. 60 citi- nected in late August. zens volunteered to take part in the construction works. Meanwhile engineers Afterwards the municipality received a and technicians of the provider started to large number of inquiries of other muni- survey the area and lay down the place- cipalities about their experiences.

4. Type and amount of financing Due to the commitment of Blankenheim nal cost level. The municipality provided citizens the costs were reduced signifi- an excavator and wasn‘t burdened with cantly. This enabled the provider to con- any other costs. nect the households affected on a ratio- 15

Planning costs in Amount of granted 0 0 EUR aids in EUR

C ost for building up N ame of funding not specified - in EUR programme

Amount of additio- Municipal contribu- 0 nal financing means 0 tion in EUR in EUR

N etwork open to the R efinancing of net- yes not specified market work (date)

5. Conclusion

The commitment of many volunteering Solely this effort could avoid the cost for citizens was crucial to provide broadband the development, for which the munici- internet to the districts of Blankenheim. pality did not have funds. S uccessful municipal and regional projects in overcoming gaps in broadband provision.

16 Municipality of Sternenfels

T he inclusion of alternative project State partners and utilisation of existing infrastructure of Bodensee-Wasserver- Baden-Wuerttemberg sorgung as well as community-owned empty conduits allowed the connection Area of, a so far under supplied, community. 17.32 km²

Population 2,800

Population density 162 inhabitants per km²

1. Initial situation

Sternenfels is the northernmost muni- The municipality Sternenfels, consisting cipality in the Enuresis in Baden-Wuert- of the two districts Sternenfels and Die- temberg. It‘s located about 20km linear fenbach, which were covered insufficient- distance to Pforzheim in north-eastern ly. Parts of Sternenfels were covered with direction and about 38km east of Karls- DSL light while Diefenbach didn‘t have ruhe. Just over a half of the municipal area perspective to be covered. Both industrial is forested. areas weren‘t connected to broadband.

2. Scope and technology Description of applied technology Starting at the pumping station two glass Different technologies were used to- ex fibre bundles were run, one in the direc- tend broadband coverage in Sternenfels. tion of Sternenfels and the other towards Businesses received access via glass fibre Diefenbach. This was done in an open cable. Households got covered via WLAN construction method on an unsurfaced and licence-free Pre-WiMAX. route to avoid the necessity of tearing up pavement. For the main connection to Sternenfels the glass fibre cable of Zweckverband One of the glass fibre cables was placed Bodensee-Wasserversorgung was used. in open construction to the outskirts of This cable was originally installed to sup- Sternenfels. From there it runs in pre- ply a steering mechanism for a pumping existing municipal pipes. In Sternenfels station. Since several fibres of the cable itself the glass fibre cable runs to the Te- remained unused it didn‘t require a great leGIS Innovation centre. There a server effort to realise a connection to an inter- and all necessary technical equipment net-backbone of Sparkassen-IT in Pforz- had been installed. To reach the industri- heim. al park in the north-west of the town the 17 cable has been installed again in munici- 10Mbit/s and the highest service-level pal pipelines and then open construction. for €1400 a month and another tariff That way several businesses in the indus- with balanced bandwidth of 4Mbit/s and trial park received access to FTTH. standard service-level for €289 a month. The service-level regulates contractual The connection of the households in Ster- conditions such as scope of service, re- nenfels was managed by establishing a sponse time, promptness of handling as wireless connection. Starting at the Tele- well as availability. Connection speed can GIS building Wireless GmbH transmitted be scaled up to 10Gbit/s upon customer a focused signal to a radio station on the request. Schlossbergturm. From there a Pre-Wi- MAX-Network supplies households and In Sternenfels Wireless GmbH offers a businesses alike in Sternenfels. connection with 2Mbit/s downstream and 512kbit/s upstream for €29,90 a Also starting at the TeleGIS-building ano- month. An additional €150 are charged ther cable was installed to supply Diefen- upon configuration to cover the cost of bach. On the way to Diefenbach a branch the modem. to the local industrial parks was installed too. This way the connection of the resi- In Diefenbach Skytron supplies all resi- ding company Hartchrom-Schoch was ding businesses and households wireless warranted. In Diefenbach then a single with a balanced bandwidth between 1 radio/transmission tower was connec- and 20 Mbit/s for €19,99 a month. Cus- ted to the net from which Skytron provi- tomers receive a basic supply/connec- des WLAN to households and businesses tion for €19,99 a month. For higher speed alike. connection each additional Mbit/s up- or downstream is charged with an additional Declaration of speed, tariff arrange- €1,49 a month. A one-time connection/ ments and pricing configuration fee of €149,99 is charged. Those businesses located in the indus- Telephone service is included. trial parks have access to FTTH with is provided by Sparkassen-IT Pforzheim. They offer two different speed- and service-options. Customers can choose between a tariff with balanced bandwidth of

3. Project description The original cause for this project was the were sought after. This included contact fact, that Hartchrom-Schoch, a worldwi- to institutions which don‘t usually serve de operating company, wanted to install as providers like the Sparkassen-IT Pforz- itself in Diefenbach while providing 200 heim Calw and the Zweckverband Boden- jobs. They declared a glass fibre connec- see-Wasserversorgung. tion a requirement. To pave the way, the municipality Sternenfels contacted se- Two fact were determined: veral providers. None of them was willing 1. The Sparkassen-IT had plans to moder- to provide a glass fibre connection for nize their network in the area. This also Hartchrom-Schoch. So other solutions meant to connect the Sparkasse in Ster- S uccessful municipal and regional projects in overcoming gaps in broadband provision.

nenfels via glass fibre cable. Sternenfels gave access to its own pipe- 2. The pumping station of the Zweckver- lines since the inner-city earthwork (tea- band Bodensee-Wasserversorgung are ring up and refinishing pavement) makes equipped withglass fibre cables to na- the biggest costs when installing cables. vigate and control the station. This also Thereby the costs for Sparkassen-IT applies to the pumping station which is (which would have had to do this to con- located between Diefenbach and Ster- nect Sparkasse Sternenfels) were redu- nenfels. ced so radically that the connection of the industrial parks as well as the points On this basis the municipality Sternenfels of presence were covered. initiated a dialogue with Sparkassen-IT and Zweckverband Bodensee-Wasser- Sparkassen-IT took control of the project. versorgung. When the ‚Ministerium für They planned the network, coordinated Ernährung und ländlichen Raum‘ in Ba- and supervised the implementation and den-Wuerttemberg had approved of the supplied the administration technolo- use of some fibres of the glass fibre strand gy. All parties involved emphasized the of Bodensee-Wasserversorgung, project good cooperation and un-bureaucratic development began. approach. Small problems were solved quickly before they could interfere and It seemed obvious that the municipality severely disrupt progress.

4. Type and amount of financing

No costs arose to the municipality. The kassen-IT was the access of Sparkasse costs were covered by Sparkassen-IT due Sternenfels. Due to the saving potential to the already planned expansion. Refi- by using the municipal pipelines, as alrea- nancing the network is irrelevant in this dy mentioned, access to the districts and case because the original goal of Spar- industrial parks could be co-financed.

Planning costs in Amount of granted 0 0 EUR aids in EUR

C ost for building up N ame of funding 176,000 - in EUR programme

Amount of additio- Municipal contribu- 0 nal financing means 0 tion in EUR in EUR

N etwork open to the R efinancing of net- no not specified market work (date)

5. Conclusion

The example Sternenfels indicates the Wasserversorgung and Sparkassen-IT fi- necessity to try for alternative or even nally made it possible to not only connect outside-the-industry partners if esta- Hartchrom-Schoch, but also households blished providers refuse cooperation. and other businesses in Sternenfels. Contacting the Zweckverband Bodensee- 19

3.2 Examples from an administrative point of view

In the category „administrative“ fall ex- possible. By the means of a financial plan amples that show an exemplary project based on solidarity, in which all partici- management on different levels as well as pants contributed the same amount, it depict the role of the commune and other was possible for small or economically participants well. weak municipalities to participate in the provision solution. See below for a de- Municipality of Grambow (MV) tailed description of this example. By providing existing buildings such as the city hall or empty silos, local network County of Pinneberg (SH) service providers are able to provide so- The example of the Pinneberg district lutions for few customers. The coope- makes it clear, how with a coordinated ration between communes and service approach the provision situation can first providers encourages the realization of be documented and then by strategic solutions. planning sustainably be improved. The inter-municipal planning was conducted County of Passau (BY) transparently and made cost reduction The county of Passau was able to increase possible. efficiency and effectiveness in developing broadband significantly by establishing County of Potsdam-Mittelmark (BB) a coordinating office and a central con- Through a cooperation between muni- tact point for the district population and cipal and service provider, duties can be their mayors. It was important that all 38 delegated thus reducing the cost of con- communes pull together to speak with nections for areas with low population one voice when negotiating with service density with only few people participa- providers. Equally important was institu- ting in connection. The price conscious tionalizing the exchange with the service approach is well covered in wireless tech- providers by organizing regular and plan- nology. ning meetings. Developing a register for empty conduits helps to build synergies Municipality of Stubenberg (BY) in civil engineering and laying of broad- Stubenberg shows that it is possible in band networks afterward. Facilitating a spite of topographical difficulties to rea- district wide geoinformationsystem and lize a wireless connection. The project can coordinating offices eases inter-regional be refinanced within a short amortization planning. period. With the support of local crafts- man firms a fast paced development can Municipalities of “Pfälzer Bergland” (RP) be achieved. Advantages of cooperation are clearly depicted in the example of the munici- Municipality of Twistetal-Gembeck (HE) palities in the Palatinate hill country. A This example shows that there is a possi- research of the necessity and feasibility bility for very small municipalities to get showed at first the potential and the pro- broadband internet access. Through pri- blems of the region. The resulting division vate initiative a regional service provider of provision areas made it finally possib- was established. More areas were con- le to connect municipalities in which no nected and the cooperation among par- economic development was otherwise ticipants led to a cost effective solution. S uccessful municipal and regional projects in overcoming gaps in broadband provision.

The factors influencing success can be sity and cooperation of all participants identified as: initiative and commitment (university, service provider, town and of citizens, detailed agreement process municipal councils), the demand and the between participating parties, transpa- infrastructure were documented and rency of all steps in planning and imple- the first steps made towards closing the mentation as well as using available inf- provision gap. At the beginning of 2009 rastructure to reduce total costs. it was decided that the work on all projects should be coordinated in a munici- City of Wernigerode (ST) pal broadband centre. See below for a de- Through the initiative of the Harz univer- tailed description of this example.

Municipalities of Pfaelzer Bergland State Areas with an unfavourable situation of premises can also be connected Rhineland-Palatinate by careful segmentation and detailed planning. Area 440 km²

Population 53,000

Population density 120 inhabitants per km²

1. Initial situation

The communities of Pfaelzer Bergland The name of the region already indica- are located in the south-west of Rhine- tes that it is rather hilly and spotted with land-Palatinate at the Saarland-border. small forests. The 132 municipalities in total, cooperate in tourism and projects that improve the Only some communities were supplied economic structure. with DSL at a sufficient rate. Most communities only had access to bandwidth The service-area includes the collective far below 1 Mbit/s or DSL wasn‘t available municipalities Waldmohr, Schoenenberg- throughout the community. Neither up- Kuebelberg, Glan-Muenchweiler, Kusel, grading nor extending the DSL network Altenglan, Wolfstein and Lauterecken was sought after by the established pro- and the administrative district Kusel viders. Very few communities had access as well as the collective municipalities to modernized TV-cable which allows Bruchmuehlbach-Miesau and Meisen- broadband-internet connection. heim and also parts of the districts Bad Kreuznach and Kaiserslautern. 21

Two providers of radio linked technology At the start of the project there was a are operating in the area. The first pro- total of 46 fully covered communities, vider covers seven communities. The se- 40 communities that in parts were not cond provider covers communities, but adequately supplied (updated in parts), two of them are only partially covered. 38 not adequately supplied (DSL Light Neither the radio linked service providers available in parts) and 3 not supplied (no nor the TV-cable company had plans to DSL available). 5 communities didn‘t offer develop the coverage. any information.

2. Scope and technology

Description of applied technology connected to a separate local backbone. The area to be supplied consists of a mul- The company inexio KGaA develops and titude of small local municipalities. To provides the areas 1 to 3. This provider allow an economically reasonable deve- installs its own DSL-infrastructure. Pre- lopment, these municipalities cannot be existing cross-connects are connected looked at as isolated units. to broadband using directional radio To cover the area soon to be supplied technology. The connection between using a single local backbone with the the splitter and the customer is supplied corresponding broadband technology using the standard telephone lines. would require a major financial investment which many small businesses are A radio-only connection is supplied whe- not able to raise. re the cost for a connection via cross- connect exceeds the financial potential. To allow for the development nonethe- The forth area is accessed and provided less, the communities were divided in 4 by the consortium STUD IT and FGN (fun- development areas based on economic, damental generic networking GmbH). A topographical and technical aspects. radio-only connection will be installed. This allowed for the application of diffe- All areas will be operating in summer rent technologies and a reduction of the 2011 at the latest. overall cost. Each area would be supplied in the most cost effective way possible Information on speed as well as rating rather than being bound to one provider and pricing with its preferred type of technical infra- The basic service offers 6Mbit/s structure. downstream and 512 kbit/s upstream. It includes telephone service and a data flat By defining those access areas it was seen rate. Customers will be charged €29,95 a to that an equal mix of economically at- month or €34,95 including a telephone tractive and less attractive communities flat rate Service with 16Mbit/s down- and was achieved to ensure supply of econo- 1Mbit/s upstream costs €39,95 a month, mically less attractive areas. 25Mbit/s down- and 2Mbit/s upstream €44,95 a month, 50Mbit/s down- and By splitting the area into four indepen- 2Mbit/s upstream €49,95. A telephone dent parts, and therefore projects, made flat rate is already included in these three it impossible to give technical details. options. The minimum contract duration Two companies are involved in the im- is 24 month. plementation. The four areas will each be S uccessful municipal and regional projects in overcoming gaps in broadband provision.

The provider in the fourth area also of- already include telephone service and flat fers several options. The basic service, rate Service with 16 Mbit/s costs €44,95 which does not include telephone ser- a month, 25 Mbit/s €49,95 a month and vice, offers 3Mbit/s down- and 256kbit/s 50 Mbit/s €59,95 a month. The upstream upstream at €29,75 a month. This tariff rate for these three options is 1 Mbit/s. An can be chosen including a telephone flat additional €99 are charged upon installa- rate at €37,50 a month. All options with tion. All tariffs include a ‚proper‘ flat rate more bandwidth than the basic service Minimum contract duration is 24 month.

3. Project description

The communities in Pfaelzer Bergland are ber of potential customers. The minimal very insufficiently connected to broad- requirement for offers was a 3Mbit/s band. Since it wasn‘t possible to supply downstream rate (no specific upstream individual communities on an economi- rate required) and a flat rate at no more cally justifiable basis, a joined approach than €30 a month. of all municipalities in Pfaelzer Bergland was agreed on. The municipalities in the The four offers presented all lacked eco- area to be supplied are closely connected nomical responsible development costs to each other and do understand them- (€400,000 to 600,000) and offered to selves as one region. A comprehensive supply some communities only or plan- agreement was formed amongst the mu- ned to charge fees for broadband service nicipalities. The Wirtschaftsservicebüro that exceeded reasonable prices espe- of the administrative district Kusel coor- cially for households. dinates the project. The interest determination procedure At first demand levels of all communities was based on 83 municipalities that were in Pfaelzer Bergland were evaluated. The interested in participating. This number results revealed that only 35% of all com- was determined during the evaluation of munities were sufficiently connected to demand levels. broadband. 30% were connected in parts, 31% had no broadband available at all or After a registration period 76 of 132 mu- at rates below 1Mbit/s. 4% of communi- nicipalities agreed to engage in the pro- ties didn‘t provide data. ject. Now there were 4,000 households and 90 businesses left as potential cus- All municipalities, even those with suf- tomers. ficient broadband access, agreed to take part in a joint broadband development The coordinating office in Kusel then program. This offered 4200 households commissioned a feasibility study about and 110 businesses as potential custo- the development of a broadband net- mers. work. It was the intention of the study to evaluate the participating communities in An interest determination procedure was terms of topographical, economical and held based on this data. It was the goal of technical aspect. Topographical aspects this procedure to find internet providers help to identify negative factors such as that were willing to provide all municipa- natural elevations that could cause pro- lities with broadband, based on the num- blems in installing directional radio tech- 23 nology between to places. The evaluation up in four areas. All of those areas were of technical aspect shows if i.e. a back- presented as separate projects to tender. bone is available or if the is a grass fibre section nearby that could be used to ins- The bidding has been settled. The con- tall a new backbone. tract for the areas 1 to 3 were awarded to inexio KGaA, the contract for area 4 to the The economic evaluation added informa- consortium STUD IT and FGN (fundamen- tion about i.e. number of potential custo- tal generic networking GmbH) in Kaisers- mers and supply locations. Close atten- lautern. tion was paved that each area of the four included communities with high as well as The connections are expected to be ready with low development costs. This should for service in summer 2011. In areas 1 and ensure the development of economically 4 the first customers will get access this not attractive areas. Based on this infor- year. In the areas 2 and 3 the backbone- mation the 76 municipalities were split infrastructure has been installed.

4. Amount and type of financing

The financing was based on a solidly ag- be quantified yet, neither the number of reement. All municipalities involved con- new customers. The subsidies will be paid tribute equally. This helped those muni- to ensure cost-effectiveness. Due to this cipalities with high development costs to some amounts can differ from those esti- be connected. mated and the municipal funding in each area can‘t be numbered until the imple- The administration of Kusel assis- mentation is finished. The administrative ted in applying for subsidies. A total of district pre-finances all expenditures to €598,000 for all four areas was granted. avoid a financial overload of the munici- The total costs of development cannot palities.

Planning costs in Amount of granted 30,000 598,000 EUR aids in EUR

C ost for building up N ame of funding S tate program- not yet specified in EUR programme me

Amount of additio- Municipal contribu- 0 nal financing means 0 tion in EUR in EUR

N etwork open to the R efinancing of net- yes not specified market work (date) S uccessful municipal and regional projects in overcoming gaps in broadband provision.

5. Conclusion The example of the communities of Pfa- to also guarantee development of those elzer Bergland points out how beneficial a communities that would not have been joint effort can be. By analysing feasibili- supplied from a solely economical point ty as well as requirements, problems and of view. By solidly financing this project, potentials of the region could be identi- all parties contribute an equal amount, fied early into the project. This resulted in small and financially weak municipalities splitting the region in four separate areas could participate.

C ity of Wernigerode State T hrough the cooperation of the univer- Saxony-Anhalt sity, town and district councils, it was possible to at first determine the provision situation and then improve it step Area by step, through cooperation with in- 165.27 km² ternet service providers.

Population 34,161

Population density 207 inhabitants per km²

1. Initial situation

Wernigerode is a town in the district of A copper cable network exists that, due Harz (Saxony-Anhalt). It lies at an altitude to the large distances between multiplier of approximately 250m in the Northwest and household connections, only allows flank at the foot of the Brocken. The east for a speed of 384kbit/s (DSL light). A to west expansion of the town area plus glass fibre backbone that belongs to Vo- incorporated towns and villages is 9.5 km, dafone D2 GmbH runs past the town area the north to south expansion is 6km. The in the North. There are in addition two TV highest point is the Brocken with an al- and/or coaxial cable networks which were titude of 1 141m above sea level and the partly modernised in 2008 to facilitate a lowest point is 215m above sea level. The use of broadband internet services. The city centre is in a valley and spreads out in development of UMTS data connections the shape of a star with hills and moun- is only partly possible. tains on the outskirts. In the south the town is surrounded by a forest. 25 2. Scope and Technology

Description of applied technology. offers 3 possibilities of connecting citi- There are two local exchanges in Werni- zens and firms to broadband internet: gerode. These are located on the outskirts and provide only the nearby parti- The first option was already implemen- cipant connections with a bandwidth of a ted in June 2009. From the network nodal maximum 6Mbit/s asymmetric or 2Mbit/s point a direction radio link (5.4 to5.8 GHz, symmetric. Users that live further away 50Mbit/s, symmetrical) was establis- from the exchanges and closer to the city hed to the village Hasserode 3km away. centre attain a maximum of 384Mbit/s. In The signal was then fed into the TV and/ most cases 2 connection share a copper or coaxial cable network of the provider line which makes it impossible to use the Heuer&Sack and currently provides 350 telephone and internet at the same time. customers with bandwidths of 6Mbit/s Apart from that there are two network and more. nodal points (also known as point of presence or PoP) that are part of a backbone The second option that still has not been network which belongs to Vodafone D2 implemented requires cooperation bet- GmbH. One of the network nodal points ween the providers. It involves feeding is used, inter alia, by the company Tele- the signal into the copper cable network Columbus (in the Northwest of Wernige- of the Deutsche Telekom. For this a new rode) to feed in services to the TV cable active switching technology must be ins- network and the other provides for the talled in the cable distribution cabinet. north west industrial area. A further option that could so far not be implemented involves extending the A further backbone of the BCC GmbH glass fibre cables from the network nodal runs parallel to high and low pressure gas point to the different boroughs so as to pipelines past the town. To provide firms connect the Deutsche Telekom cable dis- and citizens with better broadband con- tributors better than they are currently nections, the firm decided in September connected. Apart from the cost intensive 2008 to lay a 7km long glass fibre cable civil engineering necessary, a new active to the innovations and founder centre switch technology would be required ma- located in the city centre and establish king the realization of this plan only pos- a network nodal point there. This new sible through partial funding. access has a symmetrical bandwidth of 622Mbit/s. At the beginning of 2009 the Information on speed as well as rating cable was extended to a further 3km from and pricing the newly established network nodal The rates of the three service providers point to the industrial area Giesserweg (teleColumbus, Deutsche Telekom,Heuer and currently to „Robert Koch-Institut“ & Sack) are oriented on the national ave- located in the city centre rage and are between €19.90 and €49.90 a month depending on the services used The network nodal point in the innova- in a package and/or data rates. tions and start-up centre in Wernigerode S uccessful municipal and regional projects in overcoming gaps in broadband provision.

3. Project description

At the end of 2007 the problem of mis- project targeted at investigating the sing broadband internet connections in availability of broadband connections in Wernigerode was detected for the first Wernigerode. In the framework of this time by the University of Harz. The com- project, the declared bandwidths provi- munication expert at the university Prof. ded by service providers were tested by Dr. Ulrich Fischer-Hichert at first approa- sampling the bandwidths actually achie- ched the town and or the business de- ved by customers when sending and re- velopment department in Wernigerode. ceiving data packages. Randomly chosen The responsible partners sought dialogue citizens were requested on the phone to with service providers, however, this re- test the internet speeds. The samples mained fruitless. The university further were substituted by own tests, question- need for action and wanted to support naires and internet research such that at efforts as a neutral mediator. Alternati- the end of 2008, a geo-referenced over- ve solutions and partners were sought in view of broadband-internet availability in a next step, which is how BCC GmbH was Wernigerode was presented in the form found. The firm maintains a back bone of a research. that access business customers and runs past the outskirts of Wernigerode. Since This research helped to specify the data in there seemed to be an interest for solu- the broadband atlas of the Federal Minis- tion scenarios for private customers, the try of Economics and to make a detailed town council and carriers entered a con- division of provision areas as well as to tract in mid 2008 that held onto the de- cluster under serviced areas. The results velopment intention. showed that there were two areas that were under serviced (less than 1Mbit/s). Parallel to this, the University of Harz An additional necessity analysis, via di- embarked on a project together with the rect mail, was done in these areas. The town that targeted mapping existing in- results of the necessity analysis matched frastructure and recording it in an inf- the availability. It was noticed that enqui- rastructure atlas. Special attention was ries via direct mail were more successful paid to the network of a telecommuni- (20% to 30% response rate ) than enqui- cation service provider that had created ries in the local gazette (approximately empty conduits in the framework of an 5% response rate). expansion in 2002 but was no longer on the market. After nine months, mapping The efforts of the University of Harz to existing infrastructure was successfully improve provision of broadband services completed at the end of September 2008. were characterized in different project A subsection of the local civil engineering titles. Internally the responsible work department administers this data in an group was named „broadband centre“. electronic system and gives individual ex- At a mayors‘ conference on the 17th of port data (in PDF documents) to interes- December 2008, the official founding of ted companies (Telecommunication ser- a broadband centre for the entire district vice providers, power suppliers) at a fee. of Harz was resolved based on the presented research results. The participants Immediately after mapping was com- were, apart from the university and Harz pleted, the university initiated a second Optics GmbH (development of LED and 27 glass fibre cable technology, the district the broadband centre. In addition, first business development authority as well responsibilities of the broadband centre as the innovation and start-up centre were defined. Advising the communes (IGZ) who provided financial resources. in the district in matters of technology and financing as well as other planning In another mayors conference on the 29th services which involved completion and of April 2009 the founding of the centre updating the infrastructure were the first was confirmed and an advisory council responsibilities assigned. was elected to monitor the activities of

4. Amount and type of financing

The evaluation of the infrastructure, The service provider spent about availability and the operation of the €160.000 for 7km of glass fibre cable broadband centre caused costs of about which was installed by BCC GmbH. The €60.000, mainly for personnel. These broadband centre estimates that the gra- were covered by the administrative dis- dual development of broadband inter- trict Harz and Wirtschaftsförderung (city net in Wernigerode will produce costs of of Wernigerode) in equal shares. about €1.000.000 over the coming years.

Planning costs in Amount of granted 60,000 0 EUR aids in EUR

C ost for building up N ame of funding so far: 160,000 - in EUR programme

Amount of additio- Municipal contribu- 60,000 nal financing means 0 tion in EUR in EUR

N etwork open to the R efinancing of net- yes not specified market work (date)

5. Conclusion Due to the initiative of the Hochschule as existing infrastructure in Wernigerode. Harz/ University Harz and the coopera- Initial steps to fill the gaps could be initi- tion of university, provider, municipal ad- ated. In early 2009 one decided to form a ministration and district administration broadband centre for the administrative is was possible to evaluate needs as well district to coordinate the project. S uccessful municipal and regional projects in overcoming gaps in broadband provision.

3.3 Examples from a technological perspective

The 13 best-practice examples introdu- Hanseatic city of Lueneburg (NI) ced in the category „technological“ are The town of Lueneburg was able to access special in terms of technology used and all municipal real estate cost effectively it’s implementation. by laying their own glass fiber network. The gradual planning of five construction Municipality of Heiligkreuzsteinach (BW) phases made it possible to act target ori- The following example shows, how a ented by taking the needs of each con- pragmatic approach from the municipa- nection participant into consideration. lity can lead to finding a fast provision solution in difficult topographical terrain. Municipality of Markersdorf, districts Jau- The possibility of utilizing the roof of the ernick-Buschbach and Friedersdorf (SN) city council and an information meeting The best practice example from Jauer- that points out the necessity of commit- nick-Buschbach shows clearly how the ment from the citizens (for example let- passionate initiative of one party can lead ting the roof of property as an antenna to move and lead to success for an entire location) made a solution possible. The region. basis of cooperation was trust between citizens and service providers as well as Municipality of Marktrodach (BY) a neutral explanation from the municipal The Marktrodach example can be a role council on the technical possibilities. model all over where TV cable network is available. Specifically the research of citi- Hochsauerlandkreis (NRW) zens and the timely initiative of the mayor The founding of a broadband initiative helped to identify the existing infrastruc- in Hochsauerland district and its resolu- ture as an opportunity for the region. te approach made it possible to provide, Through open negotiations between Ka- almost in blanket coverage, broadband bel Deutschland and the municipality it access in a large and topographically was possible to find a solution that was challenging district. Where access was advantageous to all parties involved. The not profitable for large network providers comprehensive offer with internet, tele- the connection was made possible by the phone and television connection at affor- “Telekommunikationsgesellschaft HSK dable cost led to high acceptance by the mbH”. See below for a detailed descripti- population. The scalability of the solution of this example. on was looked into right from the start. New connections can quickly be installed Municipality of Lüdersdorf (MV) when needed at low cost. See below for a Through a coordinated approach and detailed description of this example. support from the citizens, the necessity was determined and quickly put up for Municipality of Namborn (SL) tender. The solution found offers a cost The regional network provider “Inter- effective and scalable alternative that is saar GmbH” with many years experience feasible in a short time despite unusable in the mobile network sector was quickly network infrastructure. able to win the confidence of the municipality and citizens. Any reservations towards radio linked access were eradica- ted quickly through personal contact. By 29 use of radio technology it was possible to internet access. Bundling the demand access comparatively few households in a and using existing (copper cable-) infra- topographically difficult setting. The use structure lowered the connection cost. of a cost effective technology essentially contributed to the success of the project Region Wasserburg with municipalities of especially for regions in which electrici- Soyen, Babensham, Edling (BY) ty was not available. By means of a low The firm mvoxAG achieved a significant electric need and the use of solar panels increase in distance of end user from the as well as already existing installations, a main multiplier by use of an alternati- high potential connection was establis- ve technology. This technology led to an hed. improved provision especially for urban outskirts. Municipality of Salzhemmendorf (NI) By means of comprehensive technical Markt Werneck, Gemarkung Vasbühl (BY) planning and use of existing cable infra- The example from Vasbuehl clearly shows structure, the municipality of Salzhem- that through the initiative of a service mendorf managed to establish a radio provider a quick provision of broadband based broadband internet access despite access in rural areas can be achieved. topographical issues. The near to blanket Directly contacting the municipality and coverage of the settlement area was rea- the possibility of building a profitable lized in only four months at no cost for the network even with few participants were municipality. the clinchers to success. This kind of solution can be looked into for small munici- Municipality of Sasbachwalden (BW) palities where distances to neighbouring When all other options could not be rea- areas are large and a short term remedy lized, that was when one started looking is needed. for own solutions. Feasibility research and assistance made it clear that it was Werra-Meissner-District (HE) better to build a glass fibre network than Through a combination of different tech- to modernize the existing network. The nologies and with the help of existing use of drainage system pipes and over- infrastructure, it is possible to install land circuits when laying the cables redu- economical networks with short refinanced costs. cing time at municipal level. It is hereby important to take note of the fact that a Five municipalities in „Schwäbischer sustainable technological development Wald“ (BW) for all regions with WLAN provision is pl- The use of radio links by the solution pro- anned and with that the bandwidth for vider made it possible for the first time to the user can be considerably increased provide remote municipalities with fast without any additional cost. S uccessful municipal and regional projects in overcoming gaps in broadband provision.

H ochsauerlandkreis State T he implementation of a mix of tech- North Rhine-Westphalia nologies led to the connection of the district and a long term migration strategy is pursued on the way to next ge- Area neration access. 19,588 km²

Population 271,891

Population density 142 inhabitants per km²

1. Initial conditions The Hochsauerland district with its 12 with an altitude between 145m and 843m towns and municipalities is with 1 958.8 above sea level. km² the largest district in North Rhine Westphalia. The settlement density vari- The broadband provision was rather ir- es greatly in the district, rural areas with regular. The urban areas had broadband low population density alternate with access, but the provision in the outskirts urban areas. A characteristic of this regi- of urban areas and in the rural areas was on is the low mountain range landscape often inadequate.

2. Scope and technology

Description of used technology the local networks, customers are con- Broadband provision in the district of nected using one or more distribution sta- Hochsauerland was established using a tions with a further radio linked solution. range of different technologies. In the The composite has two provision points framework of this as an example for best that are independent of each other, the practice however only the use of the ra- so called points of presence (PoP) where dio linked solution will be looked into. A an internet connection each with up to comprehensive depiction of the entire 800Mbit/s is fed into the grid. From these „broadband initiative of Hochsauerland provision points a signal is distributed by district“ can be found in the respective means of directional radio via 10 masts final report. over a distance of approximately 120km across the entire district. The choice of The radio linked solution used in Hoch- location for the masts is thereby of vi- sauerland district is a directional radio tal importance for the number of local backbone that annularly draws through networks accessed by each mast. This is the entire area of the district. This com- especially the case in the Hochsauerland posite provides for 40 local networks. In district because the terrain (very hilly and 31 forested) is decisive for the number of Information on speed as well as rates masts. The annular arrangement of the and pricing radio linked network and the feeding into Two rates are offered to private custo- the grid at two points of presence achie- mers. Both have minimum contract du- ves a redundancy and a high provision ration of 24 months and a flat rate. The L security. net private rate offers a speed of 6Mbit/s downstream and 1.5Mbit/s upstream. It The local networks are connected to the costs €34.95 per month in addition to a composite via a further directional radio one off connection cost of €99.95. link. Within the villages a radio linked solution (pre-WiMAX, 5.8 GHz) is used to Firms are offered tailor made solutions at distribute the broadband signal. The si- a net rate from €199.00 per month. The gnal is radiated by one or more 120-de- speeds are in this case from 2Mbit/s to gree-sector antennae in the direction of 155Mbit/s the customer and is received by outdoor antennae, which is in line of sight to the local radio mast.

3. Project description Since the year 2005 the district of Hoch- The district assembly and district board sauerland has been keen on developing unanimously followed the recommen- a blanket coverage of the district with dations of the initiative of Hochsau- broadband infrastructure. erland district to target a blanket coverage of internet services with a fixed As a first step, a research to the genera- minimum standard of 2Mbit/s for private tion of a broadband infrastructure was households in areas that were hitherto commissioned in the Hochsauerland dis- un-serviced or under serviced. trict. In the framework of this research a first necessity analysis was drawn in When the initiative started its work, ser- which the needs of 1000 firms in the dis- vice providers were asked, on the basis trict were depicted. Furthermore recom- of the necessity analysis, to expand net- mendations for action were stated which works. The result was that some areas of contained a 10 point programme whose the Hochsauerland district were accessed first recommendation was to establish a by established service providers that used broadband initiative. TV cables to provide DSL and broadband services. On the basis of this recommendation a broadband initiative in the Hochsauer- In order to find solutions for areas that land district was founded which became were unprofitable for providers, an idea henceforth the organ that represented competition was carried out in which the interests in matters around broad- many companies could present their con- band technology. The essential duty of cepts. From cable TV, satellite, glass fibre the initiative was to coordinate the ef- to power line and mobile radio,- many al- forts as well as run technically neutral ternatives were presented. After evalua- negotiations with solution providers and ting the advantages and disadvantages give recommendations for action. of the different technologies and con- S uccessful municipal and regional projects in overcoming gaps in broadband provision.

cepts, a decision was made. From the 12 Because the commune is not allowed to submitted ideas the radio linked solution run any business with end customers but of the innofactory GmbH was chosen be- can implement infrastructural plans or cause it had the best potential for appli- run communal telecommunication net- cation in all of Hochsauerland district. works, the district council of Hochsauer- land decided to found the Telokommuni- For the connection of hundreds of firms kationsgesellschaft Hochsauerlandkreis and thousands of citizens who so far had mbH. The necessary development of in- no or inadequate broadband access, a frastructure in town and villages in the detailed network planning was done and, district area were pre-financed using dis- based on past experience with radio net- trict funding. The business model of the work, a calculation of cost and expected telecommunication association is based revenue for each village was made. Besi- on owning the network infrastructure de clarification of matters on technology, which is then rented out to private net- law and finances, a business model had work and service providers. to be developed that fulfilled all legal and economic requirements. After successfully developing the infrastructure the first local network went into operation on the 1st of October 2008. 4. Amount and type of financing The cost of the development was entirely the association serves at first to refinance borne by the Telekommunikationsgesell- the investment. The profits will then be schaft HSK mbH (only associate: the dis- used to further develop the broadband trict of Hochsauerland). The revenue ge- infrastructure after the break-even point nerated by renting out of the network by is reached.

Planning costs in Amount of granted 550,000 0 EUR aids in EUR

C ost for building up N ame of funding 2,700,000 - in EUR programme

Amount of additio- Municipal contribu- 2,700,000 nal financing means 0 tion in EUR in EUR

N etwork open to the R efinancing of net- yes 60 months market work (date)

5. Conclusion It has been achieved, through the found- band access. In areas where provision by ing and rigorous approach of a broadband a large network provider is not profitab- initiative, to provide the large and topo- le, the Telekommunikationsgesellschaft graphically challenging district of Hoch- HSK mbH provides connection. sauerland almost entirely with broad- 33 Municipality of Marktrodach State T hrough the own initiative of the citi- Bavaria zens of the municipality, existing infrastructure was able to be used to ensure blanket provision of high bandwidth. Area 33.33 km²

Population 3,950

Population density 119 inhabitatns per km²

1. Initial conditions

Marktrodach in a municipality in the dis- The citizens in the municipality re- trict of Kronach (administrative district searched their broadband provision pos- Oberfranken) and lies about 6km east of sibilities in the region. The broadband the town Kronach. The municipality lies provision of the area was with 40% co- at the western border of the district in verage very poor such that many citizens the Frankenwald national park. The area campaigned for development and em- is hilly and the surroundings are forested. barked on the problem.

2. Scope and technology

Description of used technology. and TV services using one cable. By up- For the development, existing TV cable grading the „old network“ at key points, network was fallen back on. To retro- it is now possible to make use of new ser- fit the available TV cable structure to a vices in all areas that were previously only broadband network, the active compo- serviced by a conventional TV cable con- nent of the repeater as well as the central nection . technical services were replaced. Modify- ing the repeater and head-end station is Information on speed as well as rates necessary to facilitate upstream chan- and pricing nel capability of the cable network. The According to the service provider, down- upstream capability is necessary so that load speeds of up to 32Mbit/s and up- users are not only able to receive data but load rates of 2Mbit/s can be achieved in also send. Beside the TV channels it was Marktrodach, independent of distance to also possible to offer new services. It was the next multiplier. The best-selling in- this possible to offer Telephone, internet ternet product is „comfort package“ (in- S uccessful municipal and regional projects in overcoming gaps in broadband provision.

ternet and telephone flat rate) going for €9.90 per month. According to the ad- €22.90 per month. The „classic packa- ministration and customers, the stated ge“ (also a double package) with 6Mbit/s average rates are achieved. The cable downstream and 460Mbit/s upstream modem required for use is made available costs €12.90 per month at the moment. free of charge by the service provider. Apart from that there is a single package for telephone or internet services from 3. Project description Due to the inadequate provision with buildings which did not have broadband broadband internet services, individual connection. citizens vehemently campaigned for the development. This happened by use of It turned out that using the existing cable letters to the first mayor of Marktrodach. network in a classical coaxial design could The mayor then decreed in April 2008 provide approximately 1,460 of the 1,750 that a present situation analysis and need households with broadband. Through an analysis be conducted in order to quan- individual tuning, employees of Kabel tify the need. Deutschland and the mayor of the municipality came to the conclusion that up- To carry out the analysis a questionnaire grading the existing TV cable network to especially designed for this purpose was a broadband network would be profitably sent to the entire population. After the possible. necessity analysis, the municipality contacted three service providers. Two of the Essential for this was that under-serviced three service providers offered solutions municipalities already had TV cables. The that could be implemented with the help existing cable networks could be modi- of government funding. Kabel Deutsch- fied without large scale civil engineering land also offered to negotiate. With the being necessary. Important for the suc- help of the necessity analysis, it was easy cess of the project was the large number for Kabel Deutschland to take note of the of potential customers that made the fact that TV cables were available in many modification profitable.

4. Type and amount of financing This example of best practice can be cess; however the economic success is looked at as a model of economic suc- ascribed to existing infrastructure.

Planning costs in Amount of granted not specified 0 EUR aids in EUR

C ost for building up N ame of funding not specified - in EUR programme

Amount of additio- Municipal contribu- 0 nal financing means 0 tion in EUR in EUR

N etwork open to the R efinancing of net- no not specified market work (date) 35

5. Conclusion

The Marktrodach example can be a role II. The use of existing infrastructure and model for all regions that already have the carefully weighing out of the modifi- TV cable network. It can be taken note cation cost against the expected revenue of that TV cable networks are not only were deliberately used in the cooperation available in urban areas but also as the between solution provider and Commu- example shows in small municipalities. ne. The research done by the citizens and the III. Open and direct negotiations between mayor‘s timely initiative helped identify solution provider and commune led to existing infrastructure as an opportunity mutual understanding and quick clarifi- for the region. By use of the transparent cation of details. negotiations between Kabel Deutschland IV. The holistic offer of internet, telepho- and the municipality a solution was found ne and TV services using one network at that was advantageous to all partici- affordable prices was widely accepted by pants. The factors determine the success the population. can be identified as follows: V. The scalability of the solution was con- I. The initiative of the citizens in on-site sidered right from the start. New connec- research and the high participation in the tions can be made available when needed necessity analysis that helped the com- with little effort and at low cost. mune identify and quantify their problem. 3.4 Other best practice examples

The category „other“ contains examples communes would have had at their dis- that are not readily and entirely trans- posal if they stood alone. ferable due to, for example, special initial situations. Still, these projects show Grafschaft Bentheim (NI) interesting approaches for examples in With the open glass fibre nodes in Nord- technological or financial arrangements horn, the Grafschaft Bentheim district which could offer impulses to projects aims at competition at service level. This that are looking for suitable solutions. promising approach is already bearing fruit and will secure the firms in Nordhorn County of Bamberg (BY) future-proof broadband internet access. The county of Bamberg collected all rele- Through complementary arrangements vant data and information on time. From and division of provision areas it has been the beginning, the needs of citizens and achieved that provision gaps in rural are- firms were observed together with the as could be closed. communal infrastructure for example of city halls, schools etc. The plan was to Counties of Heidenheim, Lörrach and achieve cooperation at municipal level Rottweil (BW) from the start. In doing so it was possib- With the comprehensive collection of le to identify not only the regional infra- infrastructure data and necessity in the structure but also the needed number of three municipalities it is possible to de- customers to run an economical network. pict the provision situation accurately The cooperation between a number of The bottom line of this data collection are communes, as in this example, leads to the foundation for future plans. approach of solutions that none of the S uccessful municipal and regional projects in overcoming gaps in broadband provision.

4. Conclusions

The conclusions are a result of the analy- firms and corporations as well as contact sis of collected data about best practice to them is. In most of the examined ex- examples. For this experience of the in- amples, the communal council assumes terviewed persons were taken into con- the role of a coordinator even when it is sideration, content coherence was ana- not the initiator of the expansion. In a few lyzed, assertions were interpreted and cases though, the infrastructural problem statistics drawn. is solved by local participants through corporate of private commitment wit- The 30 best practice examples introdu- hout the involvement of the communal ced in this research depict a cross section council. of the problems and successful solution approaches that are known in Germany It shows that information on existing and when it comes to broadband infrastruc- usable broadband infrastructure (e.g. to- ture. They are representatives for a large wers, property roofs that can be used to number of activities and are also meant install antennas) in a region is easily and to give impulses for future plans. quickly acquired through cooperation When reading the examples of best detail knowledge and contact to firms. In practice, the contextual and exercising this way, almost half of the examples of diversity which project participants are best practice were able to use existing in- exposed to becomes clears. It is evident frastructure. Apart from the saved costs, that there is no universal solution for the it had a notably positive effect on the problems surrounding providing a blan- time taken to build the networks. ket coverage of broadband internet access. The time consuming and content For all projects, two main phases were planning phases in most of the examined identified: on one hand the planning projects is a convincing indicator. phase, during which information on an existing provision problem and setting It is remarkable how important know- up a necessity and feasibility analysis up ledge in detail of regions, information on to contracting public and private coope- 37 ration partners and on the other hand, Different topics and fields of action emer- the actual building of infrastructure that ged during the analysis which are relevant lasts from „first spade“ until the customer in realization of the projects. To those has broadband access. belong e.g the general challenge participants have to take on locally. But also The durations of the projects clearly dif- the necessity of market analysis, feasibi- fer in the analyzed examples. Different lity studies and information events with factors play a role in this. Apart from the good publicity is evident in all examples. size of the regions (areal dimension and The analysis of the different topographi- size of the population), the technology cal conditions and the choice of techno- used to provide network also plays a de- logy in each case as well as the different cisive factor. Wireless and radio suppor- models and options of financing that are ted solutions were realized faster than used are very interesting. The structure access using cable connected network. of the firms that are solution partners in Broadband connections based on radio building the broadband infrastructure solutions were installed partly in extre- give interesting additional insights in the mely short time, sometimes a few weeks possibilities that are available to rural were all that was necessary. areas with low customer potential.

4.1 Challenges for project participants

Challenges encountered by solution pro- that is available. The necessity of infor- viders and project administration beca- mation is usually covered by the project me clear in the course of analysis. Reser- administration and solution providers in vations from the population as well as information events. from decision makers and members on communal councils concerning certain Even in communes there are cases of re- technologies are to be expected. Apart servation towards wireless technology. from that, financial aspects play a big role The main reason was often the fear that e.g communes often have very few em- a reliable radio technology would reduce ployees, a disadvantageous population the probability of building a glass fibre structure or the financing of the actual network for the region in the future. This construction activity with suitable part- fear was not confirmed in any of the pro- ners. jects.

For both the commune as well as for the A few, especially small communes are providers of professional solutions the often very restricted in their possibilities expectations as well as the reservations and cannot relieve qualified personnel of citizens towards the expansion of from duties or employ one to look into broadband are relevant. This helps to de- solving the provision problem. It became tect the reservations of citizens towards evident that examples of best practice in especially radio technology which is said which cooperation at communal or mu- to be notably less reliable. But also health nicipal level was coordinated, resources concerns play a not to be underestimated and competence could be bundled and role. The skepticism of citizens is often a thus used targeted and efficiently. danger to realization even when radio is the only technical and economic option S uccessful municipal and regional projects in overcoming gaps in broadband provision.

One other challenge that is not to be un- the commune or municipality as opposed derestimated in the planning and imple- to potential solution providers who put mentation of infrastructure expansion in a limit to the least number of potential broadband is the structure of local and customers as a condition for economic regional population. Especially in regions activity. In these cases it puts the respon- with a high average age, a lot of effort is sible people in the difficult situation to in- required from the project management crease the demand and negotiate smartly to win potential customers for broadband with service providers. access. The number of potential customers related to the number of under ser- How far a region stands up to the indivi- viced households is even lesser than it dual challenges and overcomes these, is a already is in rural areas. This has a nega- direct factor for success and for the feasi- tive effect on the negotiation position of bility of the entire project.

4.2 Demand analysis, feasibility studies and information events

It is striking that in almost all successful pectations in citizens and companies that projects sound research was carried out cannot be reduced later on. to analyze the demand for broadband internet access that involved the local The second step on the way to realize a and regional population as well as local project successfully is carrying out feasi- and regional companies. Only 8% of the bility studies. With the help of this re- examined projects did not determine de- search general, technical, economic and mand beforehand. While such a demand periodical possibilities are identified in analysis is a prerequisite for projects that order to develop the right solution for the are government financed, many free - fi respective region. It is evident that feasi- nanced projects recognized the advan- bility studies are necessary especially for tages and necessity for such an analysis. large projects (vast area, high number of With the help of the demand analysis it potential customers, large-scale const- is possible to tell the quantity of broad- ruction efforts to provide necessary inf- band connections needed. Moreover the rastructure etc.) to examine the feasibility qualitative expectations of potential cus- and necessity of local and regional initial tomers on their broadband network es- conditions that are relevant and there can pecially on expected bandwidth, security lead to success in a special way. In over of the network and the internet services 60% of the examples of best practice a available are defined. Important indica- feasibility study was done. The necessary tors for the necessary and possible size financial and personnel efforts eventually of the plan can be derived from such re- had a positive effect on the costs of the sults. A cost estimate of the construction respective projects: assignments could is made easier with the help of a demand be described faster and more precisely analysis. and then be awarded. Possible obstacles and problem areas are identified before It is important for a demand analysis to be construction starts and can be taken into well prepared and to be accompanied by account; the necessary local information good information politics. As some of the policy to citizens, companies and inves- projects show, the analysis can wake ex- tors can be impelled in a focused way. 39

Information on the planned projects and ment as well as from solution providers. those already running are very important The extra effort at the beginning relates to citizens and companies, who through positively to the targeted results be- monthly contracts see to it, that such a cause informing potential customers and broadband network can be and stay fi- actively advertising for the broadband nanced. Focused information events were construction can lead to an increased de- carried out in over 50% of the cases. The mand and with that lead to a higher profi- incentive was from the project manage- tability for the network.

4.3 Topographical conditions and choice of technology

The topographical conditions in a regi- such as the higher potential, a better sca- on are a central element of the specific lability and durability of used hardware. framework of a project because they influence the possibility of implementing Also forests in the regions being provided certain technologies. Barriers such as ri- for did not lead to ruling out a radio so- vers and forests are to be taken into con- lution. The results of the research show, sideration. Stony ground makes neces- that the use of radio technology was used sary digging difficult and hills can make here more often than in regions with no sight connections impossible. forests. In these cases, a feasibility study gave necessary information on the pos- And yet: Against all odds it was quickly sibilities of specific technologies offered. clear that radio solutions are surprisin- While the structure of terrain evident- gly often used in hilly areas because the ly had a great influence on the choice of peaks are suitable locations for radio technology, there seemed to be no con- masts to cover provision for large areas nection between population density and in valleys. The combination of radio and used technology. The size of region and cable linked solutions are used especially settlement density do not allow for any in areas with varying altitudes. Laying the conclusions on the frequency of the dif- cables is a big problem in these areas and ferent broadband technologies used. is usually only considered to be part of a Radio technology, as well as cable linked possible solution. In regions with lower technologies were equally and success- differences in altitude, cable linked tech- fully built in large areas and in geographi- nology was often used. In such areas the cal small regions. advantages of a cable network outweigh 4.4 Financing: opening markets and funding.

Financing the set up or the modernization ket a binding aspect. Still, many privately of broadband infrastructure in an essen- financed examples showed a similar open tial part of all examined projects. This en- market structures. Differences in used tails besides identifying funding possibi- technologies were not observed. The re- lities and the search for suitable financing sults and information from project parti- and investment partners also guaran- cipants leads to the conclusion that ope- teeing future financing possibilities and ning to competition is not an obstruction financial security for funded projects is to successful and economically sustaina- usually opening the network to the mar- ble construction of a broadband infra- S uccessful municipal and regional projects in overcoming gaps in broadband provision.

structure. Quite the opposite. Usually the In the examples in which funding was profitability was improved by collection used, the percentage from funding was of revenue for using the channels 21% of the total financing. That should For the predominant part of the success- not belie that the individual percentage ful projects no funding was used. Only of the funding in the legal financing of 39% of the projects were realized with the project greatly differed. In terms of the help of public funds. The percentage duration until refinancing the infrastruc- of funded projects of all realized expan- ture there are partly extreme differences sion activities across Germany should be between the projects. The main reason is lower than depicted in this study. This is the different investment costs for the dif- essentially because of the better docu- ferent technologies. Particularly the con- mentation of funded projects which is struction of FTTH comes with compara- part of the requirements for funding for tively high costs. Thus the duration until monitoring purposes. refinancing could be 10 to 20 years. Radio linked network on the other hand can be run profitably in one to three years. 4.5 Solution partners of communes and regions

A central role in the examples is taken up In general it can be said that small and by the solution provider that constructs no-name solution providers are eyed with the broadband infrastructure in the un- suspicion. Well known large service pro- der serviced region and services it after- viders on the other hand usually enjoy a ward. The solution partners of the mu- certain confidence rating. This also ap- nicipalities or districts were often small plies to large businesses whose primary and medium scale businesses. Only in area of trade is not provision of telecom- 9% of the examined projects did a large munication services, but have regional business participate in construction of in- name recognition for example Stadtwer- frastructure. In few cases the broadband ke (public utility company) expansion was carried out by businesses with one to nine employees, called smal- A similar effect can be observed is a re- lest instrument. spect to the used technology. Unknown technologies are observed with more In many of the examined examples be- skepticism than known broadband tech- side the solution partner firms from the nologies such as DSL. Marketing titles regions were involved in accompanying such as „radio DSL“ could lead to wrong activities. In infrastructure expansion dif- interpretation because DSL is used here ferent competencies are required which as a synonym for broadband to gain con- can be well catered for by local firms such sumer confidence. It is in this case not a as landscapers, roofers and electricians. description of the used technology. 41

4.6 Contracts and access prices for customers

Pricing and contracting also plays an duration of the contract and reduces the important role in the construction and longer the contract duration. expansion of broadband infrastructure because it has a great influence on cus- Profit expectations are seen to differ -ac tomer satisfaction. At the same time it cording to the technology used. The limit is easier to win over new customers with for profit expectation is at clearly fewer attractive pricing which is compulsory customers with radio linked solutions for viability and future orientation es- than with cable linked solutions. The as- pecially with small networks. Generally sumption is obvious that this has a lot to speaking: Costs for the customer grow do with the initial investment. In the case with an increasing bandwidth. This was, of a radio based solution, each connec- as expected, proved in the examined ex- tion is created when the customer signs amples. And still when the regions are a contract with the provider. Cable linked compared there are huge price ranges for solutions have to provide a connection the different products. even when a contract has not been signed. Laying a cable after the contract has A comparison of the average prices (in been signed would cause higher costs. EUR) in the examined examples with the European and German average prices, The customers have exact expectations shows that also the mostly small solution the conditions of contract when it co- on providers were in a position to offer mes to contract duration and price and not only competitive prices but were also would like high flexibility. The expecta- able to offer prices lower than the ave- tions of citizens when it comes to design rage. Only the prices of high bandwidths of a contract do not necessarily match (in German comparison) show an upward with the profitability calculations of the shift. Many service providers have sepa- service provider. A long contract duration rate offers and price lists for companies. especially for small providers is necessary One off connection costs are charged in in order to provide secure financing. This most cases for the access to network and is often annoying to customers especially provision of the necessary technical faci- because of the fast developing technolo- lities (e.g. router). The amount of collec- gy and falling prices in provision of tele- tion fee is in most cases dependent on the communication services. S uccessful municipal and regional projects in overcoming gaps in broadband provision.

5.R ecommendations for actions

The environment analysis of successful different approaches will be derived, broadband projects provide clues for ge- possibilities and also indicators will be neral options of action and factors de- combined. For a better overview the re- termining success which were helpful or commendations will be divided into the even crucial for the realization. With the categories administrative, economic and keywords „recommendations for action“ technological.

5.1 Administrative approach

The administrative area has twofold im- tant to find local and regional supporters portance. It is first of all important that who can make a productive contribution the public administration takes on an in the establishment of broadband con- active role in project development and nection. Beside the communes and other carrying it out. The communes or district public agencies, especially municipal administration has the job of bundling all associations, chambers of industry and essential contacts and interests and or- commerce as well as citizens initiatives ganize them at the operational level. The and mid range businesses take on an ac- second component is the administration tive or advisory part. Also regional and of the project itself, which can be assu- local supply and disposal firms (water, med by another participant (public or pri- drainage, power) are worth considering vate). Herein lies the greatest potential to as partners in a broadband project. influence progress of the project through good coordination and efficient project Information and awareness rising cam- management in order to bring the project paigns to successful end. The essential aspects Sensitization of the population about the are: different aspects of expansion of a broadband infrastructure is one of the core re- Identify local participants sponsibility of the administration which Straight at the beginning of a compre- should be embarked upon as early as pos- hensive and extensive project it is impor- sible. It is about a focused information of 43 citizens about the possibilities, costs and of action in which the duration, area and advantages. In order to generate general political priorities are defined. A consen- awareness about the current provision sus of participants and decision makers situation and possible perspectives, to is essential so that, for example, a mixed bundle demand and organize participa- calculation and the profitable running of tion there, information events should be the entire network remain possible. Apart organized on a regular basis. This makes from the general expansion goals and the approach of the commune transpa- establishing a sequence for expansion, rent, providers can present their solu- short, mid and long term plans as well as tions and confidence can be built. temporary measures (needs of a questi- It is also helpful to establish a work group onnaire) and ongoing assignments (infra- for regional and local decision makers, structure atlas) should be defined. company representatives, associations and citizen’s initiatives that meet regu- Availability analysis and infrastructure larly. The work group should prepare de- atlas cisions, deal with the solutions in detail In order to realize development plans as and operate as multipliers. efficiently as possible, it is important to register existing infrastructure and ve- Assess need (Demand analysis) rify availability. The use of existing inf- At first, the existing provision situation rastructure (e.g public property used to and the need for broadband internet con- mount antennae, empty conduit systems, nection should be investigated in the af- private mobile radio masts, wind turbi- fected settlement area. A questionnaire nes, sewage pumps as electricity supplier is a good possibility to achieve this. Using for multiplier, existing glass fibre or tele- local media is a good way of creating awa- vision cable networks) can save time and reness of the requirement analysis and investment and in so doing increase the can increase participation in the survey. diversity of solutions. The inquiries of individual citizens can be bundled to form solid demand on the ba- The intentions of telecommunication ser- sis of which service providers can make vice providers should be inquired within their calculations of profitability. Talks the framework of an availability analy- face to face with companies and public sis. Large firms need larger bandwidth associations supplement the demand and usually have their own broadband analysis because these customers often connections or have broadband connec- have special expectations on a broadband tions that are made available in a basic connection (security, speed). Positive side agreement which is independent of the effect: A personal talk awakens the inte- regional provision situation. The possibi- rest for initiative and active participation lity of cooperation should be determined of the companies. in talks. Future expansion plans or joint possibilities for use can be aligned in this Developing action plans and setting pri- context. orities It is very important for the planning and Creation and use of an infrastructure at- realization of sustainable broadband ac- las are especially suitable to support fu- cess to know ones goals and to assess ture and long term plans and investment their realization realistically. It is there- decisions. An infrastructure atlas should fore important to develop a regional plan document existing infrastructure (trans- S uccessful municipal and regional projects in overcoming gaps in broadband provision.

mission lines, infrastructure resources, rest determination procedure should give infrastructure of other service providers, information about the deployed amount number of households and buildings etc.) of subsidy, the technical approach to the as well as the future plans (for example solution and the number of new connec- civil engineering on streets, creation of tions possible. building space, maintenance works on channels, bicycle paths etc) If the offers solicited in the interest determination are used to apply for funding, Use of geoinformation it has to be made clear that the offer has Geoinformation systems should be used to be binding for a given period and what to increase precision in planning and to time schedule the development is subject prepare the basis upon which a decision to. This can be used to establish liability is made. A broadband registry origina- for the commune on one hand and give ted from the data of the need analysis, the service provider security in planning. the availability analysis and the infrastructure atlas, and a lasting foundation Feasibility studies. for planning in the future is established. In a feasibility study, the scope, the me- A broadband registry should be set up ans and the time in which a project can be extensively, especially when large cons- realized are determined. Possible discre- truction projects, such as motorways or pancies between the goal of the projects country roads, could influence the acces- and already existing knowledge are exa- sibility of a region. Even when an own re- mined. Tangible expansion scenarios are gistry cannot be created, the information depicted and a technical and economic should be recorded in digital form and implementation plan can be drafted with geo-referenced. the help of feasibility studies. They should be bound to the possibilities in the market The conditions for the use of map mate- and should take regional strategies into rial and geo-referenced data should be consideration. agreed upon in written form with the provider. Declarations of consent that defi- Inter-communal cooperation ne the reason for data use are advisable The cooperation of many communes and and so is a declaration of confidentiality all municipalities in a district or larger towards service providers and other data units increases directly the number of providing sources. A simple alternative customers and with that the possibility of is the possibility of using systems such finding an economically sustainable so- as Google Earth. Building data or infor- lution. This makes the region in question mation on how high a building is can be more attractive for the solution provider. collected at low cost using commercially The individual initial conditions of parti- available navigation devices or a hand cipating communes and districts are to held -GPS devices so as to work them into be taken into consideration in order to a GIS. minimize difficulties.

Interest determination procedure. Establishing responsibilities The interest determination procedure is a Like in all projects it is also important in call for tenders in the level of the expected the expansion of broadband infrastruc- economic gap and by doing so retrieve in- ture to determine clearly the function of formation on the economic risk. An inte- each participant. This avoids duplication 45 of effort, delay, competence struggles sunderstandings and communication and an inadequate flow of information. problems, because a large number of par- Appointing a broadband coordinator is ticipants from different areas in topic and for example necessary to ease commu- expertise are involved in opening com- nication for outsiders, especially inter- munes and regions. It saves time and re- net providers. In the depicted examples duces communication effort when terms of best practice, the responsibility for and conditions of projects are clearly de- the topic broadband was mostly given to fined during preparation and tender. It is the business development department of thus essential that those responsible for municipal councils or district administra- projects deal with the terms necessary. tion, technology centres and building au- thorities also took over this responsibility. It is also important not only for administ- The division of roles between communes rative reasons and not only for the project and districts is significant. Leadership of coordinator to document project pro- the project should first be appointed even gression as gapless as possible. This way, though this appointment does not have misunderstandings are easily dispelled or to remain constant during all the stages cleared up. The documentation of talks of the project. but also recording successful as well as failed approaches to possible coopera- Communication and definitions tion partners and service providers can In many cases, broadband projects fail be of great advantage in comprehensive during the first attempt because of mi- plans and can be obliging.

5.2 Economic perspective

From an economic standpoint, economic The aim is always secure operation of a operation of a broadband infrastructure network at affordable prices for the cus- is an essential factor of success. The pro- tomers. fitability of an internet network depends on many factors which on one hand com- Financing the expansion projects is an prise of geographic, demographic and also an essential factor that should be technical initial situation of the specific looked into early. Interim financing from municipality or region and on the other banks, capital from service provider but hand is dependent on factors that can also possible funding, play an important easily be influences such as the choice role. A well planned broadband network is of the right service provider and suitable amortized in a given number of years and technology. the profitability gap is smaller the longer a network can be maintained at the same The main aspect of a profitability study conditions. The following points could be are the investments which are to be re- of help: duced in under serviced regions as well as operational costs (e.g. personnel, main Conduct market exploration studies switch and long term maintenance of It is first of all necessary, especially in network) and the scalability of the offer the starting phase of a broadband pro- (the ability to expand the network) so as ject, to get an overview of the technical to guarantee a forward looking business. and economic possibilities of broadband S uccessful municipal and regional projects in overcoming gaps in broadband provision.

provision as well as the estimated cost of is the number of new customers an inter- investment. It is advisable to always use net provider acquires through access of a a market exploration procedure to obtain region. non-obliging offers from national service providers Analyzing need (compare with recommendations for administrative approach) Boldness to find joint solutions is as helpful as bundling demand by con- If communes get no or inadequate offers sidering firms, public facilities and priva- for the provision for a settlement area in te households into the total calculation. question, they should work out possible With the help of these mixed calculations, solution scenarios with potential service the overall evaluation is stronger for the providers in talks. Whether or not a co- internet service provider and the neces- operation of many service providers or a sary mass of required customers is easily public private partnership (PPP) is rele- achieved. The point in time from when on vant should be discussed extensively and an internet network works profitably and weighed against the costs and the long the necessary investment is refinanced is term benefits for the citizens. important. Depreciation periods can differ greatly depending on technology and Sound out financing possibilities service provider If all available offers have profitability gaps then economic profitability must be Open markets weighed against technological perspec- Opening the established infrastructure to tives (short term solutions or long term the market is basically to be recommen- investments). As soon as the financial ded, because this often improves the pro- framework of a project is laid, the profitability of a broadband network. Here ject consortium should approach local too, the higher the utilization of an infra- and trans-regional participants in order structure the more it pays off to invest. By to acquire large customers for the new opening to the market, a service provider connections to be established and by who physically provides the connections doing so improve the profitability of the gets remuneration from service providers network. Banks and credit institutions that use the connection to deliver servi- should be immediate points of contact in ces. It is often a prerequisite for granting order to secure financing. A joint invest- of funds or communal subsidy to have a ment fund, possibly with financial parti- connection open to the market. cipation of citizens is an opportunity. In addition initiatives such as provision of Reducing cost of planning and connec- property or personal structural contribution through own initiative tions could reduce the total project cost A strong commitment, whether from ad- significantly. ministration, citizens, politics or other participants is essential for success of the Profitability analysis project and helps in most cases to redu- There can be no rule of thumb calculati- ce the profitability gaps. In many com- on of broadband projects. There are too munes, citizen initiatives give important many individual factors that play a role. impulses, inform neighbours and actively Every service provider has their own ex- help in planning the project. In implemen- perience in terms of offer and used tech- tation of cable linked solutions, the con- nology. An important factor for example nection costs can be reduced by digging 47 own property connections. In some cases od of investment costs, what conditions it is enough to offer the roof of one’s pro- (e.g. number of new customers) should be perty for a radio signal distributor or help achieved and how to deal with areas that neighbours and friends install hardware are difficult to finance. devices. For this, a good information and communication strategy is indispensable Contractual regulations with customers (compare recommendations for adminis- Customers have expectations concerning trative approach). Involving the regional the offered price models and flexibili- chambers of industry and commerce and ty when dealing with price lists. Special local workshops can quickly mobilize ex- aspects are the possibility of changing pertise and strong support for planning price rates (larger or smaller bandwidth, and implementation. additional booking of flat rates etc.) and the notice period at contract terminati- Financing strategies on. Usually the duration of contracts is up It is often difficult for local initiators of to 2 years for one broadband access, not broadband projects and for citizens and lastly to offer small service providers with later users of a broadband connection to a level of security for planning. Citizens adequately assess the financial frame- would like a lot of flexibility. Which is, why work of a broadband project. A transpa- one can make use of special contract ter- rent approach by the service provider is mination rights (especially for long con- therefore important to create confidence tract durations) which is a good solution in citizens. Especially developing a shared for both sides. understanding of the amortization peri- 5.3 Technological approach

The results of this research clearly show sustainability to maintain the broadband that neutrality of technology is essential connections at affordable prices in the to contribute to success. The individual needed quality. economic and topographical framework can influence the use of certain technolo- Optical fibre networks gies but do not rule them out before a de- The goal is to employ a blanket coverage tailed analysis. It is therefore recommen- of networks with large bandwidth all over ded to test all available technical options Europe. The federal government has al- without bias. ready initiated the first steps with its` IT-strategy. The European commission Against all existing reservations, the use is currently developing ideas, how NGA of a technology does not rule out the im- � can be employed in Europe and under plementation of another solution. The what conditions a faster broadband ex- construction of a radio network does pansion can be supported. The possibili- not stand in the way of construction of ty of multi-usage plays an essential role a glass fibre linked network. Possibly a here. With the „multiple fibre“-architec- radio network could finance an optical ture in optical fibre networks, many ser- fiber network in the future or only both vice providers can create broadband in- options in combination are profitable or ternet connections independent of each feasible. In the foreground or the techni- other, which would guarantee long term cal implementation stands the economic and sustainable competition. The decisi- S uccessful municipal and regional projects in overcoming gaps in broadband provision.

on on how far an optical fiber network can Plan network infrastructure be expanded is incumbent on the service Independent of whether radio or cable provider as the owner of the network. linked network solution are implemented, broadband networks are being expanded Radio solutions and are developing. An inquiry on expan- Radio linked technologies have been for sion plans of telecommunication compa- years an alternative connection of under- nies and also of large businesses and the serviced or under-serviced regions for public sector in the coming years can be market leaders also. Radio linked techno- integrated in a market analysis (as in eco- logies are on one hand designed for mo- nomic recommendations). bile (nomadic) use and on the other hand A basic part of high potential network inf- as permanently installed infrastructure. rastructure is the homogeneity of the im- That is why certain radio technologies plemented solutions. It should be a target such as UMTS (mobile telephones) or to use the same technology in large areas. WLAN (frequency 2.4 GHz for notebooks) This does not rule out a mix of technolo- should be readily accessible to enable gies. When many technologies are in use provision for many users in a given radi- in a network, it is important to define the us. Other radio linked technologies such interfaces clearly. If this is an interface as directional radio or WLAN (5.4 GHz) between two service providers, then the are designed to transmit large bandwidth responsibilities and access rights should over long distances with permanently in- be clearly stipulated. The technical con- stalled sender and receiver facilities. Di- ditions of cooperation are defined by the rectional radio distances are used as the federal network agency. backbone of mobile radio masts. Empty conduits as a strategic measure An essential difference as compared to Laying empty conduits during construc- cable linked technologies is the shorter tion works is in some regions to the stra- construction period and the lower cost tegic acts for the future of establishment of investment necessary for the installa- of optical fibre cables. Civil engineering is tion of radio linked solutions. In this case the main cost factor when implementing a radio linked technology for example cable linked broadband technologies. can be used as a backbone. An additional That is what makes it recommendable to advantage of radio lined solutions is the verify the laying of empty conduits which demand oriented expansion as opposed are then made available to many service to cable linked solutions whereby only providers, while civil engineering works households with a contract can be ac- are underway. Some support program- cessed. mes have a suitable laid down standard. Since there are many different radio linked technologies, there are also just as Scalability many biases and misunderstandings and Not only the download and upload rates unclear use of language, it is necessary are relevant in the evaluation of the tech- to increase enlightenment efforts when nology used in development. The future a radio linked solution is to be implemen- reliability in the form of scalability of the ted. Radio linked networks are sometimes bandwidth plays an important role. The built to be used in a later evaluation and current and medium-term demand ge- collected revenue used to supplement or neration of the target groups should be replace with glass fiber networks. considered. The uploa drates are relevant 49 for most firms because they tend to send The recommendations for action depic- large data packages and have their own ted in this study from the areas admi- internet offers. It is important to define a nistrative approach, economic perspec- „real minimum bandwidth“ and guaran- tive and technological approach give an tee that a service provider can provide insight on the complexity of the topic all customers with this. Beside the data broadband expansion. They should not transmission speed, from a technical per- and cannot be taken dogmatically and spective, the latency (time data requires are not a book of rules, but give hints of to get to the receiver) is important for re- what issues can be broached within an al-time users. Networks with high latency expansion project. To provide solid assis- lead to delays in transmission and make tance in the development and realization pauses in conversations or video confe- of broadband projects, a sort of manual rences unavoidable. The manufacturer in form of a checklist has been developed of software for special applications have that makes the essential aspects of reali- framework data on this. zation clear. S uccessful municipal and regional projects in overcoming gaps in broadband provision.

6.C hecklist for municipal Broad- band projects For the planning and implementation of a broadband project a structured approach is preferable.

In the following checklist recommendation and advises for the different project phases are given.

1. First Step

1.1 Set up a clear information- and communication-structure in the commune.

1.1.1 Name one or more responsible persons with a sufficient contingent of time.

1.1.2 Create a plan of action, which includes short-, mid- and long-term planning, as well as temporary actions (analysis of needs) and continuous tasks (infrastructure atlas).

1.1.3 Use external experts (e.g. committed citizens, consults) if needed.

1.2 Conduct a market exploration study, by asking all relevant telecommunication providers for non-binding offers. 51

2. Regional analysis of demand

2.1 Create a questionnaire, which collects the status quo of the demand and the overall supply rate.

2.1.1 Explain in the beginning the aim and the importance of the analysis of demand.

2.1.2 Consult data protection officer and verify the use of geo-referred data which is possible.

2.1.3 During the conception take into account the different requirements of private households and companies.

2.1.4 Ask for the willingness to pay for the speed, which is wished.

2.2 Check for the demand analysis the requirements and possibilities in the respective aid program.

2.3 Arrange the distribution of the questionnaire on the most possible ways of communication (official journal, local newspapers, internet forms, and individual letters).

2.4 Speak with local multipliers (e.g. schools, societies, trade and repair businesses) and link them to the planning.

2.5 Check the number of returning and filled out questionnaires. A return rate of at least ten percent should exist.

2.6 Evaluate the results. Focus should be given on evaluation of the already existing supply rate, the demand of broadband access per household, the expectations of internet speed and the willingness to pay.

2.7 If possible, transfer the results of the analysis to a geo-information system, to make future planning easier.

2.8 Compare the results of the analysis of demands (spot tests) with the availability checks of telecommunication providers on their respective website. S uccessful municipal and regional projects in overcoming gaps in broadband provision.

3. Establishment of the framework requirements

3.1 Start with an interest determination procedure to collect binding offers, if the market exploration study did not provide cost-covering offers.

3.2 Assign a feasibility study, with the aim of concrete recommendations for the use of the different technologies.

3.2.1 Explore the technical possibilities taking into account the topographical and demographical preconditions.

3.2.2 Clarify the existence of already installed infrastructure and its potential for future use (e.g. possible places for antenna, existing fibre or TV-cables).

3.2.3 Gather data about the infrastructural recourses of telecommunication providers, but also train and transport companies.

3.2.4 Based on these examinations all data shall be implemented into an infrastructure atlas, which should provide information of all existing infrastructure and every relevant plan of construction.

3.3 Check the financial possibilities, taking into account the results of the studies and the returning offers.

3.3.1 Calculate which financial share has to be financed by whom.

3.3.2 Keep an eye on the development of prices and compare direct costs with additional offers.

3.3.3 Ask for measurements which may reduce costs (e.g. use of existing infrastructure, internal labour, rented cables).

3.3.4 Speak to possible partners, who might want to partly finance the project.

3.3.5 Calculate the existing operating expenses of a planned infrastructure including the continuous earning situation. 53

4. Development of a regional aim

4.1 Set up a regular exchange on actual and future planning and topics on a regional level.

4.1.1 Consider together how the future cooperation could look like to create economical and sustainable solutions.

4.1.2 Adjust planned construction works to the greatest part possible. For example, by regular adjustment of the respective infrastructural atla- ses.

4.1.3 Use regular round table discussions and work groups to coordinate the long-term development of the planned constructions.

4.2 Maintain regular contact to the telecommunication provider. Keep a close focus on a clear communication and discuss project planning in detail.

4.3 If required, set clear priorities for the order of single development projects. This may be required under the circumstances of different supply precogni- tions and/or financial bottlenecks. S uccessful municipal and regional projects in overcoming gaps in broadband provision.

5. Project development and planning

5.1 Before taking a decision, use the possibility to talk to the citizens during information events and in face to face discussions. Valuable impulses might come from these.

5.2 Choose an open market model for the network. This creates new possibilities of competitiveness.

5.3 Plan the installation and the development of the supply net together with providers, experts and citizens.

5.3.1 Compile the technical planning of the project based on the result of the feasibility study and additional consolidated findings.

5.3.2 Define a detailed time schedule, fixing the responsibilities and the single work steps in it.

5.3.3 Install a long-term cost planning, regarding different scenarios of earnings.

5.3.4 Exchange with all involved actors on a regular basis on the current status of planning and future steps.

5.3.5 Check if and in what form single calls for tenders are required.

5.4 Assign the first technical crews for preparation works. 55

6. Development of Broadband infrastructure

6.1 Accompany the phase of installment and development. Especially with bigger projects, pay attention to a good coordination of the individual responsible persons.

6.1.1 Coordination of the important developments steps should be done by you with the highest accuracy, to deeply influence the future steps of the project.

6.1.2 During the installation and development process keep constant contact to the executing provider and supplier and all otherwise involved auteurs. A good exchange on all levels is required if possible planning anomalies occur.

6.1.3 Adjust and update the time schedule, especially in the case of delays, which would prolong the project runtime.

6.1.4 Check, if the cost calculation relates to the actual expenditure and if applicable set up additional measurements.

6.2 During the phase of construction and installation document all results and experiences.

6.3 Inform the affected citizens and local media after finalization of bigger single development projects and access connection. S uccessful municipal and regional projects in overcoming gaps in broadband provision.

7. Evaluation and amendment

7.1 Make sure about the carrying out of the concrete construction work. If applicable arrange a final acceptance of the construction work.

7.1.1 Note specifics that occurred due to the unforeseeable area related conditions or other unplanned events.

7.1.2 Review the findings from the project process with the involved auteurs, especially if additional construction steps or projects are planned.

7.2 Set additional dates for information events and direct discussions with citizens after finishing the development project to exchange the experiences made during the time.

7.3 Collect all results in a project documentation. Make sure to arrange them in chronological order and by including all single steps.

7.3.1 Note short-term and constant developments in the project documentation (for example new developments of costs or competitions).

7.3.2 Update the network planning. By using a geo-information system additional future development projects can be mapped.

7.4 Follow a strategic approach for the future development of the net. Set up a regular exchange with neighbor municipalities and communes. 57