[petesergeant]

> Right, and we haven’t because we just don’t wanna?

The EU hasn't because European investors are shy about deploying capital. If you look at European weapons and aerospace, it's clear there's no particular technical or capability barrier.

[f6v]

There was a very real barrier to building tech companies. We couldn't listen to Spotify at work during the time people seriously called Berlin the "SV of Europe" (our office was in the neighborhood called "SV Backyard"). Why? We didn't have enough bandwidth, and the wait time for fiber was measured in years.

[petesergeant]

I remember 2008 very differently, was this a very localized Berlin problem?

[ben_w]

From anecdotes around me now I live in Berlin, I believe it extended at least into Brandenburg.

Even in 2019, some coworkers were complaining that the best offer from their landline company (in one of the small villages just outside the Berlin city limits) was dialup.

Berlin's reputation post reunification has been "poor but sexy".

[f6v]

Nah, I’m talking 2016. I have no idea about commercial internet outside Berlin. But my residential connection in suburbs of Aachen in 2015 was copper.