Mobile Radio Summit: By 2021, 99% of all households should have mobile phone networks

The troublesome dead spots for mobile phone users in Germany should be further reduced by further expansion of the network.

According to a coalition agreement with Federal Infrastructure Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) at the end of a summit between politicians and mobile communication companies, 2021 will provide 99% of homes each Federal state of new mobile communications sites. participants emphasized. The implementation also depends on the conditions that network providers will have to adhere to for the future frequency allocation of the new 5G mobile communication standard, much faster. These modalities are set by the policy and are not yet fixed.

Half a million homes on the mobile network

According to the letter of intent, mobile operators want to rebuild or improve at least 1,000 sites with the 4G standard in "white dots". Beyond that, at least 10,000 locations will also be newly built or upgraded. Scheuer said in Berlin that in the next few years, half a million homes should be connected to the mobile network. He spoke of a positive signal.

Federal, state and local governments in turn agree with companies to create a "framework for promoting and securing investments" for the expansion of mobile networks. Scheuer wants to examine the promotion of mobile communications in particularly unprofitable areas to explore. In the case of auction products for network operators submitting binding cooperative development commitments, there should be a payment in installments. At the end of October 2018, a "radio hole registration application" will be created

In January 2020, 98% of households will have to be connected to the network

Network operators already have a 98% obligation of all households by January 2020 Households with mobile broadband. This condition had been imposed upon them during the auction of high-speed mobile broadband in 2015. Now, it is uniform nationwide 99 percent by the end of 2021. "C & # 39; is only one percent, but it's a big step for Germany, "said Germany's Telefonica boss, Markus Haas.

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Telecom boss Tim Höttges said the group will invest billions more. "However, we also said that our investments depend on the framework conditions of 5G." In this sense, investments would remain "conditional". Telecommunications need reliable framework conditions in the 5G-Lizenzvergabe.

If there are "huge obligations to expand" also in non-economic areas, the telecom will fulfill these conditions, if they acquire the licenses. But Höttges said: "Funds are missing or elsewhere." The chief of telecommunications warned at the same time before a so-called obligation of service provider. Such an obligation is discussed, for example, in the Federal Network Agency. Then foreign companies could use telecommunications networks, the networks would be "devalued," said Höttges. The boss of Telefonica Haas said: "Such a commitment would give companies that do not put a dime in Germany's digital infrastructure a demand for access to our mobile network that we build with D & D. Huge investments. "

Implementation, said Höttges. In the country, for example, a mobile phone can connect to the network of another operator if the reception is bad, allowing to bill the service to the provider itself. "A national roaming would result in much less being invested in Germany," Höttges said.

Green criticizes the decision as "humbug"

The opposition criticized the statement. "At the summit, it was decided that 98% coverage 99%," said Green MP Oliver Krischer. "It's just a silly thing and goes beyond reality fully lived."

In calls for a 100 percent national expansion, however, network operators also refer to the upcoming 5G frequency auction by the Federal Network Agency. Since it is unclear how much the auction of the coveted frequencies will cost them, the promises for scaling up the region with LTE are currently difficult, the group said.

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Despite all the criticism of the so-called white dots, the mobile phone service in Germany from the point of view of the Duisburg telecommunications scientist Torsten Gerpott does not have a problem. is not bad, but not the best in the world. Mobile network operators, manageable competitive intensity, independent service providers with no own network, competitive pressure hardly increased At the end of 2017, the federal government badumes that Between 93.3 and 100% of households depend on the region are. However, Gerpott limits: "These percentages refer only to households and not to the surface." In addition, it is also expected download speeds well below 6 megabits per second. If we set the minimum threshold at 6 Mbit / s, only an average of just under 90% of households are provided "wireless".

Critics also call the policy, network operators in the 5G auction to a national expansion. engage a new technology.

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