Not just delays

Chaos in the expansion of the Hollabrunn fiber optic network

A crystal-clear announcement in the application for the expansion plan - only now the joy is dampened due to delayed completion.(Bild: Martin Steiger)

Households in Hollabrunn should have been connected to the fiber optic network almost two years ago. However, city councillor Wolfgang Scharinger criticizes a long delay and mistakes during construction - such as bumpy road humps that were only cleared more than six months later.

Unfortunately, it is no longer unusual for many municipalities to fail to coordinate excavation work. In Hollabrunn, however, the proverbial bird has apparently been shot, as city councillor Wolfgang Scharinger criticizes: "In some places, sidewalks have already been sawn open in order to be dug up later. Now, before the winter, the slits have been closed again," the leader of the Citizens' List is critical and also names the reason: "There is simply no progress on the expansion of the fiber optic network."

"Everything still sounded problem-free at the presentation"
According to Scharinger, it was actually promised at the presentation that every household would be connected in two years. "But now it has turned out that a small area has only been built in the town of Hollabrunn, where the fast 5G network is already a major competitor to the fiber optic variant. And it took more than half a year for the road crossings to be properly sealed again," he says, referring to "bumpy roads" in the affected areas. And the cadastral communities, where the Internet is generally slower, are still untouched by fiber optic work.

The regulatory authority RTR also recently criticized the fact that fiber optic expansion is swallowing up money unnecessarily due to fast wireless competition: Only just under 17% of the potential had been activated.