Germany’s mobile communications market is growing by a large provider: 1 & 1 Drillisch.
The goal is to enter the next-generation 5G operator network.
What does that mean for customers?
Maintal / Munich - The mobile communications industry in Germany is growing by a fourth provider: 1 & 1 Drillisch has been planning to enter the network as a network operator for some time, and the national roaming project has now been announced.
For some time now, the provider has been meticulously planning a cell phone revolution on the German market.
Mobile network in Germany: 1 & 1 Drillisch and O2 negotiate
A prerequisite was the agreement with an already active company that would support the new competitor in this country in setting up its own mobile network or whose capacities could be accessed.
This has the advantage that customers can take advantage of reliable cell phone coverage during the years of expansion in Germany.
When roaming, you can switch to the network of a competitor: Telefónica (O2).
1 & 1 Drillisch was in extensive negotiations with the three big players on the German mobile communications market, and now the company from the Hessian Maintal has agreed with the Munich-based group to deepen the existing partnership.
A corresponding agreement with the other two giants Telekom * and Vodafone had previously failed: With a view to the unsuccessful negotiations, company boss Ralf Dommermuth says: "The positions were irreconcilable." In 2019, the company had an amount of around 1.1 billion A frequency spectrum was auctioned for the first time in euros, so now the next important hurdle on the way to becoming a mobile network operator in Germany has been overcome
Mobile network operators in Germany: 1 & 1 Drillisch and O2 are doing something together
The deal with O2 will give Drillisch access to the O2 network in the future.
The agreement applies retrospectively from summer 2020, initially for a period of five years, as
reported by
the
dpa
.
It is interesting to note that the new agreement only covers the 2G, 3G and 4G mobile communications standards.
The latest generation 5G (all important answers) is excluded from this, because 1 & 1 Drillisch is planning a later 5G use exclusively via its own antennas.
According to Dommermuth, this decision means a huge opportunity for the Hessian company: State-of-the-art technology can be built into its own network from the start - free of the technological "legacy" of the competition.
The news that the subsidiary of the telecommunications company United Internet, which was taken over in 2017, is entering the German mobile communications market has promptly affected the share price:
As soon as 1 & 1 Drillisch starts its 5G network, new customers get high-speed connections. O2's “National Roaming” then “only” offers 4G speed (LTE).
Dommermuth considers this to be an "imperceptible" disadvantage, because they will quickly offer many of their own antennas.
In addition, the difference between 4G and 5G connections in rural areas is small anyway, because long-established network operators do not allow gigabit connections there, but only do so in large cities.
1 & 1 Drillisch new competitor in the mobile network - That means the deal for consumers
The Federal Network Agency has said what the partnership between 1 & 1 Drillisch and Telefónica means for consumers: “This is good news for mobile phone customers in Germany,” says Jochen Homann, head of the authorities, for whom the cooperation is “an indication of the attractiveness and dynamism of the German mobile communications market ”.
It is still too early for better offers in the form of lower prices, as expert Professor Torsten Gerpott from the University of Duisburg-Essen believes: “It continues as before, the services offered by Drillisch are not getting better and this is putting pressure on the competition That will change as soon as 1 & 1 Drillisch starts with its own 5G network in Germany: Then mobile customers can choose from four instead of three network operators, which will intensify competition.
The question still remains, what does O2 get out of it?
The company has been working with the newcomer for a long time.
Ultimately, it is also a “win-win partnership” for Telefónica Deutschland, as Germany boss Markus Haas explains: The company is making better use of its network and thus generating more income.
Particularly high investments in rural areas would have an impact on the balance sheet, the agreement with 1 & 1 Drillisch promised a “positive contribution margin, especially in the uneconomical regions of Germany”.
(PF with dpa) * Merkur.de is an offer from the Ippen Digital Network