LH Mikl-Leitner: “Mostviertel Nord” project is a great example
St. Pölten (OTS/NLK) – 17 communities from the Amstetten and Scheibbs districts are jointly building their fiber optic infrastructure for rural areas. Today, Tuesday, the contract was signed and the groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion project took place in Öhling in the presence of State Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner.
“In Lower Austria we say: ‘Help yourself, otherwise no one will help you.’ That’s why we founded the nöGIG years ago with the very clear objective that the rural region must have the same conditions as the urban area,” said State Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner and continued: “Because when it comes to fiber optic expansion, they go Companies only go where there is business to be done. Nobody came to us in the rural regions of Lower Austria to expand fiber optics there.” The first step, i.e. connecting the local centers to fiber optics, has now been completed, now the second stage is moving to connecting the rural areas. “The Mostviertel North in particular is a great example. Because infrastructure is needed for the quality of life, but above all for the competitiveness of our companies. “We not only need the Westbahn and the Westautobahn, but we also need fast internet,” said the state governor.
State parliament member Anton Kasser, chairman of the Amstetten Region Community Services Association (GDA), said: “It is a milestone in the history of the GDA.” When the GDA was founded, it was set up as a service association for the communities and the area of responsibility has constantly expanded. Now, with the broadband expansion, “a new field has opened up” for communities. According to Kasser, life would no longer be imaginable without the Internet, and the population’s desire for fast Internet is all the greater. “Today we have come together to officially start this journey together. There have been countless discussions and negotiations over the last year to get the whole thing on track. As a community association, we have received great support from the state, federal government, nöGIG and öGIG.”
In total, the fiber optic expansion will be carried out in the 17 communities of Allhartsberg, Aschbach-Markt, Biberbach, Euratsfeld, Ferschnitz, Kematen an der Ybbs, Neuhofen an der Ybbs, Oed-Öhling, Purgstall an der Erlauf, Seitenstetten, Sonntagberg, St. Peter in der Au, Steinakirchen am Forst, Wang, Winklarn, Wolfsbach and Zeillern invested 57 million euros so that around 4,200 households in the region can be supplied with fiber optics by the end of 2027. The federal government is providing around 35.4 million euros for this project, with 15.7 million euros coming from the state of Lower Austria.
Project manager Joachim Brandstetter reported on the details; the entire project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2027 and go into operation in spring 2028. Wolfgang Lindorfer (GDA), Andreas Schiffermüller (nöGIG), Hartwig Tauber (öGIG) and St. Peter’s Mayor Johannes Heuras also had their say.
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