📋 Tender Overview
Bavaria's Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger welcomes the Federal Network Agency's proposal to extend the mobile frequency usage rights for Telekom, Vodafone and Telefónica, which expire at the end of 2025, by five years. Aiwanger: “The Federal Network Agency is finally considering an alternative to the current auction. So far, operators have fallen short of the requirements when it comes to mobile phone coverage. We have to change something to ensure Germany has a leading position in supply! Extending the frequency allocation by five years while tightening the coverage and access requirements is therefore an important step so that people get noticeably better mobile phone reception. We still have some catching up to do here, especially in rural areas.”
By the end of 2029, 99.5 percent of the area and all district roads should be covered with a transmission rate of at least 50 Mbit/s. In addition, a large number of supply requirements must be met by all network operators in the future; The supply from other network operators will no longer be taken into account. In addition, the requirements for better market entry opportunities for the new fourth mobile network operator send a good signal and are entirely in the interests of consumers. Aiwanger: “Especially in rural areas, mobile communications often do not yet meet the requirements of the state and the requirements of citizens. If we want equal living conditions in the city and the country, we have to make improvements here.”
However, extending the frequency distribution must only be an exception. The next time the frequencies are awarded, the Federal Network Agency must award them by tender instead of by auction. This is the only way to consistently continue the path taken to improve coverage by extending frequency allocations.
