Cell phone expansion: when the village doesn’t want a cell phone mast

One of the Odenwald communities is largely in a dead spot, but there is resistance to the construction of a transmitter mast. Stable cell phone network or not – the village has been arguing about this for years.

It is very quiet in the 760-inhabitant community of Rüdenau in the Miltenberg district. Too quiet for many locals. Because Rüdenau is considered the number one radio hole in Lower Franconia. Only 26 percent network coverage – that is a lonely negative record.

But there has been a dispute for years about the saving transmission mast. Telephoning with the mobile phone: In Rüdenau this is only possible in a few places. Mobile internet as well. That is why the municipality wanted to put a transmitter mast on the roof of the town hall in 2019. But the population did not play along, says Mayor Monika Wolf-Pleßmann.

Narrow majority against the mast

Your predecessor in office wanted to test the mood in town and has initiated a survey. Around 60 percent of the citizens took part in this. The result was tight: the radio mast opponents prevailed with a majority of around 30 votes.

Now Monika Wolf-Pleßmann, honorary mayor of Rüdenau since May 2020, has inherited the problem. In the vicinity of the town hall it still works to some extent with cell phone reception. But you will look in vain for a full rash. It doesn’t matter which provider you have, says the mayor: Some said the D1 network works better. The others swore by D2 or the Telefónica O2 network. That is also a bit of a matter of faith.

Displeasure among traders

One thing is clear: the reception in Rüdenau is bad. The mood among many locals too – especially among the tradespeople. Dieter Baumann runs the “Gasthaus zum Stern” in the fifth generation. His home-style house got through the pandemic relatively lightly thanks to his own butcher’s shop. But the poor cell phone reception is a clear competitive disadvantage for his house, according to the restaurateur.

“We have already lost customers because business people in particular say they have to be available,” says Baumann. The reception is different and fluctuating in each of his rooms. In addition, the church opposite shields some of the radio waves that come up from the mast three kilometers away in the valley.

Concerns about 5G technology

The concerns about it are as invisible as the cellular network itself. Hardly anyone dares to say that in public. It is rumored to be rumbling in the village, sometimes violently. A declared opponent of the planned cell phone tower and former councilor of Rüdenau first agreed to an interview, but then canceled again at short notice. That’s just the way it is in a small town, says an insider. Everyone here knows everyone else, and then everything will do the rounds. Nobody wants to be committed to this or that line.

The villager Ulrike Lorenz willingly expresses her skepticism. She actually thinks it is very nice that you are not always available in Rüdenau. There is also the fixed network. And everyone has a computer at home for surfing anyway. Baumann admits that you are not entirely comfortable with 5G technology and that you have read that there are also serious scientific concerns about it. Because that could possibly harm the body, they prefer to accept the poorer reception.

Mayoress fights for expansion

Mayor Wolf-Plessmann takes the concerns seriously, even if she does not share them herself. Because the gaps in the cell phone network could endanger life and limb. Only half a year ago there was a medical emergency in the forest, by a small lake. Better reception could have saved lives. But the ambulance came too late to the scene of the accident. Without a mobile phone network, the so-called rescue points, which are signposted above Rüdenau with the number of the rescue control center, do not help either.

There is also resistance to the latest initiative by the municipal council. At least visually, a radio mast on the edge of the forest above the village would not interfere. At the same time, the entire place, which extends over two valleys, could be covered from this location. However, there are houses on the slope – a few hundred meters away – and not least the kindergarten. Here, too, there are concerned parents, they say.

The mayor is now hoping for a compromise that is acceptable to as many as possible so that the radio silence in Rüdenau will soon come to an end. The local council wants to decide on a location soon. The new radio mast will then be built there – unless a referendum is against it. That would then be binding for a year. Mayor Wolf-Pleßmann takes this calmly: “You always have to reckon with that in local politics.”