E.ON is going on the offensive in the broadband market, investing some €130 million through its telecommunications subsidiary e.discom in the expansion of its own broadband network in Brandenburg with real fiber to the building/house (FttB/H) connections. With this and future investments, E.ON is making a significant contribution to enabling digital gigabit coverage in rural areas.
Especially in the countryside, the availability of high-speed Internet is of critical importance for the attractiveness of business locations and hence the competitiveness of industry and commerce as well as for quality of life, which includes being able to work from home. This way E.ON is also creating the best conditions for jobs in these regions.
The district of Märkisch-Oderland in Brandenburg has awarded a total of seven contract lots, i.e. sections for the expansion, six of which went to E.ON’s subsidiary e.discom. The funding rate was over 90 percent. The expansion work is expected to start in the spring of 2019, and the project will extend over a period of four years, including all connection work. A total of around 20,000 households can benefit from the new real fiber optic connections.
Thomas König, E.ON board member responsible for the network and infrastructure business, emphasizes: “We are also bringing high-speed Internet with high bandwidths to rural areas. In this way, we ensure that our customers – whether they are municipalities, businesses or private households – can help shape the future of their region.”
E.ON’s future telecommunications offering will be targeted at government, private and business customers. It will provide customers with convenient, future-proof triple-play Internet connections (telephony, Internet, TV) with undivided, high bandwidth from 200 Mbit/s to more than 1 Gbit/s. These bandwidths are made possible by the FttB/H connection used. The optical fiber is laid all the way into the house and data is transmitted at the speed of light.