Broadband expansion

The aim is to provide all "white spots" with broadband access. The subsidized expansion is intended to ensure an effective and technology-neutral broadband expansion to achieve a sustainable, future-proof and high-performance broadband network (next-generation access network).

The upstream market exploration procedure revealed the need to connect 312 households and 67 companies to the broadband network. These require disproportionately high development costs, which are not worthwhile for a telecommunications company. This "profitability gap" is closed in the WFP by a subsidy from development funds. As part of the WFP, 64 km of civil engineering work is being carried out, 84 km of empty conduits are being laid and 147 km of broadband network is being built using fibre optic technology.



At the end of 2017, the city of Jena successfully acquired funding to eliminate the "white spots". The construction and operation of the broadband network was put out to public tender as a concession at the beginning of 2019 and awarded to Thüringer Netkom, a subsidiary of TEAG Thüringer Energie AG. The contract between the city of Jena and Thüringer Netkom was concluded in July 2020.



Thüringer Netkom has been actively marketing your broadband connections since spring 2021. The subsidized expansion usually ends at the property boundary. However, in order to use internet services, the connection must be extended to the respective property. TKU undertakes this work as part of the initial development. The owner of the property must submit a declaration (GEE) for this. Subsequent connection of a property to a plot prepared for connection is possible. In this case, however, the civil engineering costs are generally borne by the property owner.

The part of the project that is visible to everyone is the civil engineering work. In the WPF, only underground cables are used. Trenches are dug or plowed for this purpose. Drilling technologies are also used in some cases. Empty conduits are then inserted into these, via which each address point can be supplied with a dedicated fiber. Distribution cabinets are built for active network components. Reserves are kept for later network expansion.



Once the civil engineering work is complete, the hardware components are installed and the fiber optic cables are pulled in. The fibers are connected together (spliced) in a complex process, which is one of the most time-consuming processes in network construction. Finally, quality control and documentation are carried out. It takes around 2 years before the network can go into operation.



The groundbreaking ceremony for the start of construction took place at the beginning of April 27, 2022 in the Leutra district.



Work is currently underway in Im Metztal, Kunitz (Bachgasse), Wöllnitz, Vierzehnheiligen, Cospeda, Wogau/Jenaprießnitz



In preparation are:

Auf dem Forst, Ammerbach, Ziegenhainer Oberweg, Münchenrodaer Grund



Work has been completed in:

Maua, Cospoth, Am Tatzend, Lützeroda, Closewitz, Isserstedt, Jägerberg, Remderoda, Leutra, Am Talstein



To date, 66% of the underground lines have been completed. No fiber optic has been blown in yet.



Thüringer Netkom plans to complete and commission the network in August 2024.



You can find more information about the project from Thüringer Netkom here.

The funding bodies PricewaterhouseCoopers GmbH (PWC) on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure and Thüringer Aufbaubank on behalf of the Thuringian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Science and Digital Society are supporting the EUR 7.4 million project with EUR 3.7 million in federal funding and EUR 3 million in state funding. The city of Jena is contributing its own share of 0.7 million euros.

In the coming years, the prerequisite will be created for the majority of Jena's residents to be able to use Internet content via a fiber-optic broadband connection in the future - if they so wish. All economically attractive addresses will be developed by the telecommunications companies in what is known as a self-economic expansion without outside capital.



In mid-2022, Deutsche Telekom began laying fiber optic connections to residential buildings in the Drackendorf/Lobeda Ost pilot project. With the experience gained in the pilot project, Deutsche Telekom has announced that it intends to significantly increase its expansion capacity and develop the urban areas east of the Saale, including the outlying areas of Wogau and Kunitz, in 2023. The declared goal is to be able to supply around 14,000 households in Jena with fiber optic connections by 2026.



Stadtwerke Jena-Netze is also constantly expanding its fiber optic network. Stadtwerke Jena-Netze supplies the tenants of JenaWohnen and Carl-Zeiss-WG as well as Heimstätten and other housing associations. Stadtwerke also focuses on commercial enterprises and institutions.



It cannot be ruled out that other telecommunications companies will set up their own broadband networks in Jena in the coming years. Kommunalservice Jena is endeavoring to coordinate such activities and to make use of existing capacities wherever possible.



There will be some address points that will neither be developed as part of a commercial expansion nor fall into the "white spots" category. These are generally addresses that are already supplied with a broadband connection using the vectoring method with download rates of between 30 and 100 Mbit/s. For these so-called "gray spots", a fiber optic expansion is not economically worthwhile. It is therefore to be feared that these connections will be left behind from the dynamic development in the medium term because this outdated technology will not be further developed. For this reason, Kommunalservice Jena has already launched a market exploration procedure (MEV) in 2022 to narrow down the number of underserved gray areas. The city of Jena is trying to acquire funding for the "gray spots" in order to be able to offer fiber optics here as well.

Status: October 2023