The Federal Network Agency has initiated a fine procedure against Germany's mobile network operators Deutsche Telekom, Telefónica Deutschland (O2), and Vodafone. The reason for this is the untimely and incomplete fulfilment of supply obligations, which exist in a firm agreement between the network operators and the Federal Network Agency.
The authority accuses the companies of not having closed all agreed-upon dead zones, although they had the opportunity to use an extension period until the middle of next year for complete compliance with the requirements. This proceedings were already initiated in September, when the original expansion deadline had expired at the end of last year.
The network operators dismiss the accusations and refer to an exemption rule. This states that the requirements are considered fulfilled even if the expansion was not possible for legal or practical reasons, for example, if no land was made available for a radio mast. The companies also emphasize that they have even surpassed the requirements.
The Federal Network Agency does not accept this argument. It had examined the information provided by the providers in the past months and nevertheless decided to initiate a procedure. According to this, antennas could have been installed on multiple sites within the deadline. In total, there were 500 coverage gaps where none of the three network operators had provided transmission speeds of 100 megabits per second (LTE). The expansion in train and federal highway tunnels was also criticized. According to industry sources, however, the number of violations is low.
Should fines be imposed at the end of the process, they are expected to be low. The opening of the proceedings should send a signal to the industry to make greater efforts in expanding and fulfilling the supply requirements without any gaps. Until now, the Federal Network Agency has generally taken a lenient stance towards companies. For example, it was announced that expiring mobile frequencies could possibly be extended for free, but in return, new requirements could be imposed.
The supervisions over 1&1's restart, which plans to launch its own 5G mobile network in December, were already initiated by the Federal Network Agency in April. 1&1 received acquired frequencies in 2019 and was supposed to activate at least 1000 5G sites by the end of 2022.
In fact, however, there were only five. For each missing mobile phone mast, 1&1 faces a fine of up to 50,000 euros. A statement from the company is currently being reviewed by the authorities.
The fine proceedings of the Federal Network Agency against mobile network operators are unusual because they usually involve established companies. If fines are ultimately imposed, they could serve as a warning and incentive for the industry to invest more in infrastructure expansion and strictly adhere to coverage obligations.
