The city of Wolfsburg is setting another milestone in the expansion of its fiber optic infrastructure. As part of the "Grey Spots" funding program, gaps in the fibre optic supply are being closed. This applies in particular to areas where it has not been possible to roll out fiber optics on a commercial basis to date: Barnstorf, Waldhof, Hehlingen, parts of Wendschott, Velstove and Brackstedt. The Wolfsburg City Council will now decide on the construction costs of around EUR 45.3 million at its meeting on November 13, 2024. The city of Wolfsburg plans to invest around 25% of the total eligible costs as its own contribution to the expansion, subject to the final funding decisions by the federal and state governments. The overall costs could be further reduced by exploiting synergy potential, for example by sharing existing infrastructure.

With the expansion project, which is being implemented in cooperation with WOBCOM GmbH, the city is aiming to achieve nationwide fiber optic coverage. The city is responsible for planning and expanding the passive infrastructure, while WOBCOM GmbH operates the network and provides residents with high-speed Internet. As a result of the successful private-sector expansion, the original subsidized number of addresses was reduced from just under 6,000 to around 3,100, which led to a significant reduction in construction costs.

Free fiber optic connection in the pre-marketing phase until 30 November 2024

The pre-marketing phase, during which households can secure a free fiber optic connection, is currently running until 30 November 2024. All affected citizens are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity and take a decisive step towards fast internet coverage.

The necessary home inspections are already taking place in parallel with the pre-marketing. These are being carried out by the planning office netzkontor nord GmbH on behalf of the city of Wolfsburg. During the house inspections, the individual connection options in the buildings are checked and the technical planning for the fiber optic connection is prepared.
A solution was also found for addresses that were previously unclear. For example, around 270 households in Wendschott-Sommerfeld are to be connected with fiber optics on their own once a pre-marketing quota of 40% has been reached. The funding for the so-called "gray spots" is aimed at residential and commercial addresses that are currently supplied with Internet speeds of up to 100 Mbit/s.