Federal roads: Federal network agency increases conditions to 5G

In a final draft decision, the Federal Network Agency submitted the conditions for awarding the 5G frequency auction to the Advisory Board of the Federal Network Agency. The authority announced on November 16, 2018. Overall, the requirements imposed on mobile operators have been further increased, but there is no obligation to let the phone service providers Mobile (MVNO) enter the 5G networks. Even from a national expansion of 5G to the countryside is out of the question.

"We have reworked our original design in the light of many comments, keeping an eye on what is technically, economically and legally possible.", explained the head of the authority, Jochen Homann. "The conditions now also include the provision of rural roads, waterways and railways, in return we have increased the opportunities for cooperation between network operators and provided mutual credit for the supply."

At least 100 Mbps should be provided by at least 98% of households by federal state by the end of 2022, by all federal highways, by the most important federal roads and by the railways. more important.

Railways provided worse than federal roads

By the end of 2024, all other federal roads will be equipped with at least 100 Mbit / s, all national and national highways, seaports and major waterways and all other railways of at least 50 Mbit / s. In addition, a latency of 10 milliseconds is required for all highways and federal highways. According to experts, 10 milliseconds in the car network are quite sufficient.

In addition, each operator will have to build 1,000 5G base stations and 500 base stations in white dots by the end of 2022. This can of course also be an LTE station.

New entrants should be subject to separate coverage requirements that have not been specified.

During implementation, network operators can work together in areas where the extension is not cost-effective for the individual network operator. Infrastructure sharing and roaming are possible here. It was imposed an offer of negotiation for cooperation.

Network operators must "appropriate service providers"namely the mobile service providers, "Negotiate the co-use of radio capabilities." However, there is no constraint to open.

In another application process, additional frequencies between 3700 MHz and 3800 MHz and 26 GHz for local use after the 2019 auction will be provided. This is particularly important for the manufacturing industry and operators of municipal fiber optic networks. The area should be reserved for regional and local applications and allocated separately after the frequency auction.

The Advisory Council gives its opinion on the project on November 26th. Subsequently, the decision should be published.