Approximately 2.2 million people in Germany still lack internet access at a minimum speed of 50 megabits per second, despite political goals to achieve this standard eight years ago. This information comes from a recent market analysis by the comparison portal Verivox, based on data from the Federal Broadband Atlas, as reported by “Welt am Sonntag”.
According to the analysis, 96 percent of all German towns and municipalities show gaps when it comes to the minimum standard of 50 megabits per second (Mbit/s), meaning a total of 10,520 communities are not fully supplied. The situation is particularly severe in 113 communities, where the coverage of 50 Mbit/s amounts to at most ten percent. In 61 of these locations, there is no fixed broadband connection at this speed available through any technology-whether DSL, cable, or fiber optic. While 97.3 percent of all households nationally can theoretically obtain a connection of at least 50 Mbit/s, an additional 2.7 percent remain disconnected.
The rate of expansion has only improved by 0.72 percentage points compared to the previous year, a pace that is hardly sufficient to close the gap anytime soon. This contrasts sharply with the original political commitment; Germany was supposed to be fully connected with at least 50 Mbit/s starting in 2018. What was deemed an ambitious goal at the time is now technically outdated. There remains a significant disparity between different regions. While many communities in Rhineland-Palatinate or Thuringia are still awaiting basic service, hundreds of communities in Schleswig-Holstein are already 100 percent covered with fast internet, including more than 70 locations in the district of Herzogtum Lauenburg alone.
