WIESBADEN (dpa-AFX) - High-speed Internet: More than a quarter of all 3.1 million households in Hesse now have a fiber optic connection, according to Digital Minister Kristina Sinemus. From the end of 2022 to the end of 2023, this proportion has increased by 10 percentage points to more than 26 percent, the CDU politician announced on Thursday on the fringes of the 14th so-called Gigabit Summit with experts in Wiesbaden. Sinemus was referring to fiber optic lines that do not end at the distribution box, but at buildings themselves. The aim is to achieve nationwide fiber optic expansion in Hesse by 2030.

Not all citizens consider such a connection for higher bandwidths to be necessary - providers often only expand the underground fiber optic networks if a certain percentage of households in a street or residential area sign corresponding contracts beforehand. Against this background, Minister Sinemus also promoted the added value of this new technology: in addition to the significantly higher performance, there is usually also an increase in the value of the respective property. In addition, electricity consumption is lower compared to other connections. "The future belongs to fiber optics," emphasized Sinemus./jaa/DP/tih