Description / Explanation
Four local communities in the rural area of Hamminkeln took matters in their own hands. The objective: Getting next-generation internet access - FTTB. Biggest challenge: Low population density, hence expectable high cost for civil engineering. The main idea: Cutting cost dramatically by doing most of the civil engineering work themselves. Using a well-proven approach regionally known as "Loikumer Glasfaser Modell" the local communities partnered with a utility company (Stadtwerke Rhede) to build a solid business case together. Thereby, 230 households, farms and small businesses were connected via FTTB in less than 12 months. The project was implemented without any form of public aid, but with outstanding civic commitment and lived solidarity. It is a textbook example for the principles of the "Loikumer Glasfaser Modell", that was used to realize more than 5.000 FTTB-enabled homes, farms and businesses in the rural areas across North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany since 2013.
Basic information
Project type
Organisational
Time frame
01/12/2017 to 31/12/2018
Country
Germany
Scope
regional
Project submitted by
Name
Markus Tenbusch
Organisation
LGM GmbH & Co. KG
Function
PR
Phone
+49 163 4279040
Infrastructure & Service
Speed / performance
≥100 Mbps
Infrastructure, technology and architecture
The EU gigabit ambition target for 2025 can be met easily by the infrastructure, which is technically capable of realizing 10G connections
Service providers
The local utility Stadtwerke Rhede is currently acting as network and service provider.
Financing
Cost structure and financing sources
- total cost: 908.000 EUR
- investment by end-users: 253.000 EUR net (1.100 EUR construction costs subsidy per household)
- investment by utility: 655.000 EUR
- no public funds
- investment by end-users: 253.000 EUR net (1.100 EUR construction costs subsidy per household)
- investment by utility: 655.000 EUR
- no public funds
Was the project supported by EU funding?
No
Scalability
Actors involved and their roles
The investment was fully handled by two private parties: the local communities and the utility company they partnered with (private partnership, no financial involvement of public entities).
Local communities: Dingden Berg, Nordbrock I, Nordbrock II and Havelich
Municipality Hamminkeln
Local communities: Dingden Berg, Nordbrock I, Nordbrock II and Havelich
Municipality Hamminkeln
Unique characteristics
Despite the relatively large size of territory (44 square kilometers, 110 kilometers of transmission routes) the entire build-out of the infrastructure took less than 12 months - on a voluntary, unpaid basis! Coordination and collaboration among stakeholders were exemplary.
The cable-laying fiber-plow used in this project is a cornerstone of the "Loikumer Glasfaser Modell". It enables local communities in rural areas to do most of the civil works on their own. It was originally developed during the self-financed FTTB build-out in the remote areas of the village Loikum (also part of municipality Hamminkeln) in 2013 and has been refined and optimized since then. It enables non-specialist personnel to lay empty conduits using ordinary tractors, hence utilizing the means available. Very little upfront training is necessary to start the cable laying process. The average laying speed ranges between 500 and 2,000 meters per hour. Since the empty conduit is directly "injected" into the ground, soil replacement is not necessary. Laying depths between 60cm and 120cm are possible. A laying depth of 80 to 100 cm is most common to avoid any interference with agriculture. The routing and the actual laying depth are constantly logged via GPS (accuracy of +/- 2cm) and measure points are automatically processed via a cloud service to provide ready-to-go documentation that can be directly imported into geographic information systems (GIS).
The cable-laying fiber-plow used in this project is a cornerstone of the "Loikumer Glasfaser Modell". It enables local communities in rural areas to do most of the civil works on their own. It was originally developed during the self-financed FTTB build-out in the remote areas of the village Loikum (also part of municipality Hamminkeln) in 2013 and has been refined and optimized since then. It enables non-specialist personnel to lay empty conduits using ordinary tractors, hence utilizing the means available. Very little upfront training is necessary to start the cable laying process. The average laying speed ranges between 500 and 2,000 meters per hour. Since the empty conduit is directly "injected" into the ground, soil replacement is not necessary. Laying depths between 60cm and 120cm are possible. A laying depth of 80 to 100 cm is most common to avoid any interference with agriculture. The routing and the actual laying depth are constantly logged via GPS (accuracy of +/- 2cm) and measure points are automatically processed via a cloud service to provide ready-to-go documentation that can be directly imported into geographic information systems (GIS).
Success factors
Every stakeholder taking part in this project (communities, utility, municipality of Hamminkeln) wanted this to work out! Thus, compromises and sacrifices were made, obstacles in the way were removed. Everybody was pulling together - an atmosphere that lasts beyond project closure.
Business model
community broadband model
Project review
Results
Realizing FTTB in this rural area had a massive impact on people's daily lives because many of the community members were suffering from very slow internet access prior to the project. (avg. 0,5 to 3 Mbps). The result of the upfront demand aggregation process (96%) indicates the significance - bearing in mind that they still had to pay 1.100 EUR out of their own pockets. Fast internet access is a decisive factor to retain both population and businesses.
Technical potential for expansion, future proof infrastructure
Since a full-blown FTTB system has been implemented, the future proof is taken care of by design.
Socio-economic impact
This project is the result of the bottom-up initiatives led by local communities. They partnered with a local utility (Stadtwerke Rhede) in a very early stage of the project, basically to take it from there as cooperating partners. Given the circumstances, we think this project can be classified as Community-Led-Local Development (CLLD). If there is one common thread in the 40+ projects which have been implemented according to the methodologies of the "Loikumer Glasfaser Modell" so far, it is this: positive social effects based on communal spirit, because the community members pull together. Being able to take an active part in the process of implementing FTTB in their community strengthens local ties and corporate feelings.