📋 Tender Overview
Minister Thomas Strobl has handed over the first funding notification from the federal mobile phone funding program for Baden-Württemberg. With the funding, Deutsche Funkturm GmbH is building a new mobile phone mast in Ingelfingen.
The Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs , Michael Theurer, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Digitization Thomas Strobl and Ernst Ferdinand Wilmsmann, Managing Director of the federal mobile communications infrastructure company (MIG ) together on August 16, 2023 in Stuttgart to the radio tower company Deutsche Funkturm GmbH . Deutsche Funkturm GmbH will use the funding to build a new mobile phone mast in Ingelfingen. All established cell phone network operators (Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, Telefónica) will then install their transmission and reception technology on this cell phone mast. The area thus changes from a “white spot”, an area where there is no 4G or 5G , to a “black spot”, an area covered by 4G or 5G by all three network operators. This means that 110 households and an area of ??0.52 square kilometers (km 2 ) will be optimally supplied with mobile communications in the future.
Help shape the digital future
"Since 2016, we have been running a billion-euro investment offensive in Baden-Württemberg to expand high-speed Internet. We have invested more than five billion euros in our gigabit future - more than anywhere else in Germany. We will continue on this path with all our strength, because the innovative heart of Europe beats in Baden-Württemberg. Of course, one thing is also clear: Providing the people and the economy in Baden-Württemberg with fast internet is the greatest infrastructure task of our time. We can only do this if we all pull together. As Minister for Digitization, I am particularly pleased that we are helping to shape the digital future in the state in a very concrete way with every grant, such as today with the first mobile communications funding notice for the municipality of Ingelfingen,"
Targeted incentives for mobile phone towers in rural areas
“We want the best mobile network wherever people live, work and travel – whether in the city or in the country. The Federal Government is working hard to achieve this together with business, the federal states and local authorities. The federal government's mobile phone subsidy program starts where private-sector expansion has reached its limits. We provide targeted incentives for the construction of mobile phone masts in previously undeveloped locations in rural areas. There are areas like here in Ingelfingen that would remain a white spot on the mobile phone map without our support. Here, our funding pays off in several ways, because several mobile network operators have agreed to connect to the funded mast. Thanks to the great willingness to invest in the telecommunications industry and our targeted supplementary funding, we are well on the way to achieving our ambitious expansion goals," said Michael Theurer, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and Transport.
“Where there are people, there must be mobile communications. Under this motto, MIG promotes, supports and accompanies the expansion of mobile communications, especially in rural areas, on behalf of the federal government. Baden-Württemberg is now also benefiting from this, where our activities will continue to gain momentum. A framework agreement that we have concluded with Forst Baden-Württemberg helps us with this . The agreement simplifies the acquisition of land for the subsidized mobile communications expansion so that 'white spots' in network coverage in the areas concerned can be closed more quickly. The first plots of land have already been acquired. I would like to thank the state of Baden-Württemberg for their support. In this way, we can jointly advance the expansion of mobile communications," says Ernst Ferdinand Wilmsmann, Managing Director of MIG.
Cell phone funding program to close “white spots”
As part of the federal gigabit strategy, the federal government has launched its own mobile phone funding program. It has a total volume of 1.1 billion euros and is used to close so-called "white spots". Areas that are not being developed privately and there are no supply requirements or contractual development obligations are eligible for funding. In addition to the private-sector expansion and the coverage requirements, a nationwide coverage with mobile broadband services is to be implemented.
The federal government commissioned the mobile communications infrastructure company (MIG), which was founded at the end of 2020, to implement this funding program.
The funding is aimed exclusively at the construction of the mobile phone masts, including their supply lines and power supply. The mobile network operators are responsible for the specific transmission and reception technology, which they finance and maintain themselves.
Provide 99.95 percent of households with 4G by 2025
The aim is to have 99.95 percent of German households and 97.5 percent of the federal territory covered with 4G mobile communications by 2025.
So far, the mobile communications infrastructure company has launched 342 market investigations to inquire about self-sufficient expansion activities in Baden-Württemberg (as of August 2023). Of the 304 market investigation procedures that have already been completed, a preliminary funding procedure to close the underserved areas is planned for 232 cases. A commercial expansion by the mobile network operators was announced at 72 locations.
