Germany’s fourth cell phone network is getting bigger, but it is still small compared to the competition. Ralf Dommermuth, head of network operator 1&1, said in Montabaur that more than 400 locations were integrated into the network at the end of June. That was almost double the number from three months earlier. For comparison: O2 has around 28,000 active mobile phone locations in Germany, Vodafone 26,000.
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Where 1&1 does not send its own radio signals, its customers are connected to the O2 network. This happens as part of a national roaming contract between the two companies, under which 1&1 pays a rent to use the competitor’s network. However, 1&1 is switching to Vodafone this summer – so in the future, customers will be connected to the network of the German subsidiary of the British telecommunications group.
Failures in network expansion
1&1 faced significant obstacles while building its mobile phone network. 1,000 locations were supposed to be operational by early 2023, but there were actually only five. The Federal Network Agency then initiated penalty proceedings. 1&1 blamed its expansion partner Vantage Towers, which had not handed over a large number of locations despite the corresponding contract.
As is clear from Dommermuth’s statements, the cooperation between the two companies is still not going according to plan. “We have canceled the other 250 locations to Vantage.” Expansion is difficult. “But we are gaining increasing height.” According to a regulation from the Federal Network Agency, by the end of 2025, 1&1 must reach a quarter of German households with its antennas. This is what 1&1 wants to achieve.
Consumers are troubled due to power outage
In May, the still small network of 1&1 had significant technical problems, and many customers could not be reached for a long time. Due to this mobile phone disruption on 1&1, it is estimated that around 50,000 terminations were received, says company boss Dommermuth. The failure also surprised him. “In the morning my wife woke me up because my colleagues could not contact me on my cell phone because my cell phone was also broken.”
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This kind of thing can happen when building a new network, but it shouldn’t have happened. “It also took us a lot of time to clean it up.” We have learned something new and believe it won’t happen again.
Expectations for the full year have faded
United Internet is a subsidiary of United Internet As per financial report The half year was mixed. Sales rose 1.1 percent to 2.02 billion euros and the operating result (EBIT) fell 22.8 percent to 196.1 million euros. The costs of expanding the network – start-up costs – were significantly higher than previously thought. 1&1 recently slightly lowered its original annual forecast for sales and profitability.
(FDS)
