It should be an alliance against "white spots" in the mobile: The German Telekom, Telefónica Germany and Vodafone want to build up to 6000 new mobile sites coordinated and use to close dead spots as soon as possible, as they announced on Monday.
The companies signed a letter of intent. The aim is a "best possible mobile broadband coverage" for customers throughout Germany, especially in rural areas and along the roads, railways and rivers. Their supply had been imposed on the operators in the course of the 5G frequency auction.
Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) described the planned cooperation as the right step to close radio dead spots in Germany. This would benefit rural regions in particular. "This makes reliable telephone calls and surfing finally possible on motorways or in trains."
Complaints against 5G conditions remain
According to the operators, the envisaged cooperation will serve to close the radio-holes in sparsely populated regions and along traffic routes in an "economically feasible way". With a common construction of additional radio masts and towers as well as their technical supply and use, "significant" time and costs should be saved.
In the summer, network operators had paid a total of around 6.5 billion euros for the frequencies for the superfast new mobile communications standard 5G. They had then criticized, there is now too little money for the expansion available. Even before the auction, the operators had also complained of conditions - the ongoing lawsuits should be maintained, it said on Monday.
The plan is for the companies to build an equal number of new sites, which can then be used by the cooperation partners on an equal basis as needed and equipped with their own antennas and network technology. By the spring of 2020 at the latest, according to the statement, the further details of the cooperation will be contractually determined.
"Digital Clause" of the Federal Government in November
German Telekom chief executive Dirk Wössner called the cooperation a "milestone" for network expansion in Germany: "Sharing infrastructure is not new for us, but on this scale a very big step in the right direction." The CEO of Telefónica Deutschland, Markus Haas, is quoted as saying: "Together, we will take Germany a significant step forward in digitization." Vodafone Germany boss Hannes Ametsreiter said Allianz should benefit hundreds of thousands.
It was also said that the network operator 1 & 1 Drillisch was invited to participate in the "cooperative network expansion". "A prerequisite is the willingness to participate in the expansion to the same extent." A spokesman for 1 & 1 Drillisch's parent company, United Internet, said: "The other three network operators have informed us of their plans and have invited us in principle to get in touch with them in the short term, and then decide on a stake."
Minister Scheuer had recently presented cornerstones for a mobile strategy, which will be developed during a "Digital Exam" of the Federal Government on 17 and 18 November. The aim is for Germany to achieve a "leading international position" in mobile communications based on nationwide 4G coverage. This should also create an important prerequisite for 5G expansion.
It should be central to the supply of places that would have no perspective for a mobile network in the long term without government assistance. The government has already announced that it intends to set up a mobile infrastructure company, which - if necessary - will award contracts itself.
