Fast internet thanks to Elon Musk

Created: 09/18/2022, 08:00

By: Gerti Reichl

This rectangular Starlink antenna provides Steffi Hafner's family with fast internet.

Daniel Heuberger applied for it and was awarded the contract.

"Starlink" as a temporary solution © Thomas Plettenberg

The small hamlet of Schmerold-Holzschleife has so far been left behind when it comes to fiber optic expansion.

Residents have now taken the initiative.

Gmund

– When Steffi Hafner (47) recently read the report that the municipality of Gmund had signed a contract with Deutsche Telekom GmbH for the start of construction to lay fiber optics for fast Internet in 2026, she was "very annoyed".

Even more: "We feel left alone." Her accusation: Her family and other residential buildings with around 26 households in the hamlet of Schmerold-Holzschleife were "simply forgotten" when the network was expanded.

Invested 5000 euros during the corona pandemic

As early as May 2020, the Hafner family caused a stir in the media across Germany.

The corona pandemic had just forced students to homeschool and many employees in companies and offices to work from home.

A nerve-racking time for Steffi Hafner and her boys Quirin and Vitus, now 14 and 15 years old.

In order for the two children to be able to follow school lessons, Hafner not only had to drive back and forth between her husband's place of residence and his business in Dürnbach to download the necessary material from the computer there to USB sticks.

She had to invest 5,000 euros – in a second laptop, a printer and, above all, in an amplifier to somehow defy the extremely weak internet connection.

"Up to now, we have never been taken into account in the development", Hafner regrets again and suspects several reasons behind it.

On the one hand, it is probably due to the Miesbacher telephone area code at their place of residence, which legally belongs to Gmund.

On the other hand, they assume that the development of the houses in Schmerold-Holzschleife is unprofitable for Telekom.

She was “terribly upset” that she wasn’t part of the new fiber optic project, says Hafner.

Telekom's fiber optic network should be in place by 2027

From 2027, around 2,300 households will be supplied with a new, high-performance network that will enable working and learning from home, video conferences, surfing and streaming at the same time.

1 gigabit per second (Gbit/s) should be achieved when downloading, 200 megabits per second (Mbit/s) when uploading.

When asked why no fiber optic expansion is possible in the Hafner family's area, Telekom responded in a very general way: "The expansion in Gmund is an autonomous expansion.

Here we look at what is economical,” says company spokeswoman Lena Raschke.

The situation in Schmerold-Holzschleife is known, it is only said.

Municipality enters into funding process

An inquiry with the municipality of Gmund reveals the problem and the very complex situation.

Because the community is already planning to supply the areas north and east of the main town of Gmund with broadband, they have started a funding process, explains manager Florian Ruml.

“As one of the building blocks, a so-called market investigation process was carried out in which data was collected.

This data is currently being evaluated and the result will soon be presented to the municipal council.” Ruml said he did not want to anticipate this, but the Schmerold-Holzschleife area would then be included in the broadband expansion.

Another market investigation process for the remaining areas of the municipality should follow.

"The fact that Telekom is starting its fiber optic project at its expense and thus improving existing connections has nothing to do with the fact that we forgot about the residents of Schmerold-Holschleife," explains Ruml.

However, he could not name a point in time for the broadband expansion by the community.

also read

Dispute over swimming pond: Municipality of Rottach-Egern wins in court - builder wants an appeal

No mercy: luxury hut near Bad Wiessee has to be demolished – is the owner fighting back?

Elon Musk's "Starlink" provides the solution for the time being

The residents of the Mangfall could not and did not want to wait any longer.

Daniel Heuberger, a tenant in the Hafners' 12-party house, had heard of "Starlink," a division of SpaceX, Elon Musk's space and rocket project.

The satellite network provides Internet access in areas where previously no or insufficient Internet connection was available.

Heuberger applied and was awarded the contract.

Four parties in the house now share the monthly costs of 80 euros.

"For unlimited data volume that works perfectly," says Hafner.

She can still hope for decent fiber optics.