4 ms·

Germany is hilariously behind other EU nations in regards to internet access and connection speed. After plans for FTTH got scrapped in 1983 (!!) Germany is sti

by foepys 6y ago

Germany is hilariously behind other EU nations in regards to internet access and connection speed. After plans for FTTH got scrapped in 1983 (!!) Germany is still using copper telephone lines for the vast majority of its internet users. While fiber is slowing being deployed there are still voices that oppose it because it's "too expensive". There are still entire industry areas connected over a single 50/10 MBit DSL connection. A company I applied to a few years ago was very proud to tell me that they had just had upgraded their connection from 3/0.3 MBit to 16/1 MBit. This company had 70 employees at that time and was located at the outskirts of a city with >300.000 citizens.

mschuster91 6y ago
> While fiber is slowing being deployed there are still voices that oppose it because it's "too expensive". Former trench digger as a sub for the Telekom here. It is extremely expensive to build out fibre trenches - rural areas simply because of the vast distances and the comparatively few users and urban areas because the underground area is filled meaning you can't use excavators below 20cm depth and have to do everything by hand. For the US people asking "why don't go aboveground" - The US way of laying cable aboveground doesn't fly here... in rural areas you don't want to have car crashes take down service lines, and in urban areas cable poles are seen as eyesore.
- foepys 6y ago
  The question is: is it more expensive than getting lapped by other countries because the industry cannot keep up in regards to digitalization (also known under the marketing phrase "industry 4.0")? It's incredibly sad to still have to look up how internet connectivity is going to be when you move. In a high-tech nation as Germany, I should be able to expect a fast internet connection in every house to be able to work from home. Especially because plans for FTTH were made in 1981 and got scrapped only because of corruption.
  - mschuster91 6y ago
    > The question is: is it more expensive than getting lapped by other countries because the industry cannot keep up in regards to digitalization? Of course it is but Conservatives lack the ability (or the will, given their party donors) to think of the future. "Wer Visionen hat soll zum Arzt gehen"...
    - luckylion 6y ago
      > Of course it is but Conservatives lack the ability (or the will, given their party donors) to think of the future. "Wer Visionen hat soll zum Arzt gehen"... Schmidt was in SPD, not the CDU.
- oblio 6y ago
  > Former trench digger as a sub for the Telekom here. It is extremely expensive to build out fibre trenches - rural areas simply because of the vast distances and the comparatively few users and urban areas because the underground area is filled meaning you can't use excavators below 20cm depth and have to do everything by hand. If Romania can do it, with much of the same restrictions in place, but a lot less money available, Germany for sure could do it.
  - mschuster91 6y ago
    Romanian wages are way lower, easy as that. And they get lots of EU subsidies too.
    - oblio 6y ago
      Our EU funds absorption rate is pitiful, I'm not sure that's the main reason. The wages part might be true. But it's utterly shameful that's the case considering that we're talking about residential fiber, so high density places where that cost can be spread out easily. Because in rural areas for sure they can use equipment to dig.

by foepys 6y ago

mschuster91 6y ago

> While fiber is slowing being deployed there are still voices that oppose it because it's "too expensive". Former trench digger as a sub for the Telekom here. It is extremely expensive to build out fibre trenches - rural areas simply because of the vast distances and the comparatively few users and urban areas because the underground area is filled meaning you can't use excavators below 20cm depth and have to do everything by hand. For the US people asking "why don't go aboveground" - The US way of laying cable aboveground doesn't fly here... in rural areas you don't want to have car crashes take down service lines, and in urban areas cable poles are seen as eyesore.

foepys 6y ago
The question is: is it more expensive than getting lapped by other countries because the industry cannot keep up in regards to digitalization (also known under the marketing phrase "industry 4.0")? It's incredibly sad to still have to look up how internet connectivity is going to be when you move. In a high-tech nation as Germany, I should be able to expect a fast internet connection in every house to be able to work from home. Especially because plans for FTTH were made in 1981 and got scrapped only because of corruption.
- mschuster91 6y ago
  > The question is: is it more expensive than getting lapped by other countries because the industry cannot keep up in regards to digitalization? Of course it is but Conservatives lack the ability (or the will, given their party donors) to think of the future. "Wer Visionen hat soll zum Arzt gehen"...
  - luckylion 6y ago
    > Of course it is but Conservatives lack the ability (or the will, given their party donors) to think of the future. "Wer Visionen hat soll zum Arzt gehen"... Schmidt was in SPD, not the CDU.
oblio 6y ago
> Former trench digger as a sub for the Telekom here. It is extremely expensive to build out fibre trenches - rural areas simply because of the vast distances and the comparatively few users and urban areas because the underground area is filled meaning you can't use excavators below 20cm depth and have to do everything by hand. If Romania can do it, with much of the same restrictions in place, but a lot less money available, Germany for sure could do it.
- mschuster91 6y ago
  Romanian wages are way lower, easy as that. And they get lots of EU subsidies too.
  - oblio 6y ago
    Our EU funds absorption rate is pitiful, I'm not sure that's the main reason. The wages part might be true. But it's utterly shameful that's the case considering that we're talking about residential fiber, so high density places where that cost can be spread out easily. Because in rural areas for sure they can use equipment to dig.