The will is there, just hard to find.

The German Chancellor Angela Merkel initiated talks with leading telephony industry to expand broadband coverage of fruitless ended in harmony. The plan, Germany better wiring, all great. Only because nobody wants to promise something.

 

Berlin - The deliberations of the Federal Government and the telecom sector through the rapid expansion of the Internet in rural areas have not brought tangible results. German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) is exchanged on Tuesday in Berlin with the telecommunications corporations from. The federal government wants as part of the second economic program until mid-February a broadband strategy. "I'm following the conversation very confident that we succeed in our broadband market share with our powerful telecommunications providers to expand rapidly," said Merkel.

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Unity in the thing, not a desire to move: German Chancellor Angela Merkel tried to industry to take action to move

The meeting was attended by the Chancellor's Office, inter alia, Telekom CEO René Obermann and Vodafone boss Fritz Joussen participate. Joussen told n-tv: "I think we are a very good step forward, and the desire is definitely there. And it is obviously important that we also in remote areas of good supplies have broadband." Specific plans were not yet on the table. Thus, the question of the necessary frequencies open. Around villages or individual customers anzubinden want suppliers - in addition to the expansion of the fiber optic network - including wireless set.

Nor are officially around five million people in Germany of high-speed Internet truncated. In reality, the supply gap, however, far greater: When supplies are also regions in which only offered expensive alternatives are not affordable for everyone. "White spots" on the DSL-map are according to the telecommunications companies, especially in marginal areas of cities and the countryside - where the expensive installation of new lines, given the small population does not reindeer. Also this representation is highly controversial, often sufficient to place the large urban agglomeration, a few miles behind them, in modem Germany to land.

The East surfs slow

Federal Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee (SPD) said, especially regions in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony-Anhalt would have on modern IT services are connected. This could help to halt the brain drain and retain creative people. Even Economics Minister Michael Glos (CSU) promoted rapid investment.

The Chief Executive of the industry association Bitkom, Bernhard Rohleder, said the supply of high-speed Internet connections was important for Germany. The initiative offers the chance to compete in a leading international position. Currently Germany is the number of broadband lines per 100 households only slightly above the EU average, but well behind countries like the Netherlands, Denmark or Britain. "Politics and economics are in agreement that a midfield place at the front is not enough," said Rohleder.

The government wants until the end of 2010, the white spots on the broadband card disappeared. No later than 2014 will be for 75 percent of households to 2018 for all households have Internet connections with transfer rates of at least 50 megabits per second available. In the industry there are disagreements over fees and conditions in the broadband expansion. The competitors of Deutsche Telekom's fear that the ex-monopolist's market position could be.