Konsbruck was first asked about the unfolding developments in the Ukraine conflict, to which he replied that he can no longer make a political statement, but still expressed his personal views: “I am happy with the actors we have in key positions at the moment, like the US President, in whom I trust to have the necessary calm and experience to handle the situation appropriately, while also keeping diplomatic channels open and avoiding armed conflict.”
When asked about his reasons for leaving the cabinet of Prime Minister Bettel, Konsbruck explained that he always intended to stop working for the government before the end of his career and return to the private sector. His decision to leave therefore did not come as a surprise to the PM, nor to his family. Nevertheless, Konsbruck conveyed that the PM was not pleased when he announced his decision, but stressed that they parted on good terms.
Konsbruck acknowledged that in terms of expertise, he may not have been an obvious choice for LuxConnect. However, since the firm carries out a lot of operations for municipalities and the public sector, his expertise comes in handy.
LuxConnect was founded in 2006 following an initiative from the government at the time. The goal of the firm is to improve the access to and the speed of internet connection in the country, which is done via the installation of optic fibre networks and setting up of data centres. Konsbruck emphasised that in terms of optic fibre infrastructure, Luxembourg is well ahead of other EU countries: “The past 15 years have been a success story and we have become frontrunners.”
Konsbruck admitted that the biggest challenge remains proper cable connection within buildings rather than the networks installed in the streets. He emphasised that this is currently a LuxConnect priority. He also praised the supercomputer Meluxina as a success, both in terms of marketing as well as turnover.
Konsbruck also talked about the LuxConnect data centres, underlining that even though they need a lot of energy, their water use is no more significant than that of three households.
Finally, the LuxConnect director was asked about the risk of cyber attacks in Europe. He explained that such attacks were carried out in Ukraine as recently as last night. He thus emphasised the importance of strengthening security infrastructure to prevent cyber attacks as much as possible.
