The back-and-forth over broadband funding continues. Already in July, the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV) informed the states that the federal government would have to reduce the state pot for gigabit expansion in 2024 from three to two billion euros due to a tight budget. For 2025 it was also said that in addition to around 900 million euros, the federal government would bring forward approval for changes to the development bank Creditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) program with one billion euros for “new approvals for broadband expansion projects as part of gigabit funding”. But the draft budget for next year, which the federal government agreed to last week, now provides more money for laying fast internet lines.
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Now, as published, BMDV’s individual plan should include expenditures for digital policy projects Bills for the 2025 budget will generally be significantly higher than in the current year. In chapter 1204 on digital infrastructure, which is particularly relevant for network policy projects, according to the project, almost 52 percent more funds are available at 3.51 billion euros for the expansion of digital infrastructure, a data policy that promotes innovation and measures to support intelligent mobility (2024: 2.31 billion euros in target).
At 2.93 billion euros, support for nationwide broadband expansion in 2025 is the focus of this budget item. This means that significantly more money will be available for gigabit projects than this year. Countries such as Bavaria were against the cuts announced in July. On the other hand, many network operators prefer to expand on their own and want less money from the state.
Less money for 5G, AI and autonomous driving
In terms of investments, above all the support for mobile communication expansion has increased: this is estimated at 366.8 million instead of 154.23 million euros in 2024. The closing of dead spots should, for example, be supported. According to the plan, only 7.95 million euros instead of the previous 35.87 million euros will be available for the implementation of the 5G strategy after 2025. Digital Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) should also have fewer resources for national and international activities, i.e. 5.66 million instead of the previous 7.44 million euros.
Other allocations and subsidies are also decreasing: instead of 71.62 million euros in 2025, only 1.2 million euros are set aside for the development and testing of new software-supported network technologies. To promote cross-transport mobility systems based on automated, autonomous and networked driving, subsidies will be reduced from around 84.56 million to 45.47 million euros. Expenditures in the field of digital innovation are reported to amount to around 91.3 million euros (2024: 113.25 million euros). The cuts here affect, for example, innovative applications of artificial intelligence (AI): while 60.6 million euros were still available in 2024, there will be around eleven million euros less in 2025. Grants for innovative research in the context of digital infrastructure will also be cut such as the mFund research initiative or the so-called Building Information Modelling, which is a method for software-supported network planning, construction and management of buildings.
(MKI)
