Dead spots are still a constant nuisance in certain regions of Germany. The Federal Network Agency accuses the cell phone network operators of failings – and has therefore opened proceedings to impose fines.
The Federal Network Agency is taking action against Germany’s mobile phone network operators Deutsche Telekom, Telefónica Deutschland (O2) and Vodafone with fines. This was done “due to culpable failure to fully meet the pension requirements on time,” according to a letter from the authority tagesschau.de is present. The dpa news agency first reported on it.
“White spots” and deficits in tunnels
Specifically, there are 500 4G dead spots in which none of the three network operators enable reception of 100 megabits per second. These “white spots” should have disappeared by the turn of the year 2022/23 and the companies would have had to build new radio stations there. They committed to this in the 2019 frequency auction.
But Telekom, Vodafone and Telefónica Deutschland didn’t manage to do this for everyone. In addition, the providers still do not have a good network in some federal highway tunnels, even though it is required – this is also the subject of the proceedings.
Telekom, Vodafone and O2 are also threatened with fines
The fine proceedings against the three cell phone network operators had already been opened in September, but were not publicly known until now. The companies can now submit statements. A decision will be made next year. In separate proceedings initiated at the same time, companies also face so-called penalty payments.
It is the first time that the Bonn authorities have resorted to such drastic measures. Even when it came to O2’s clear misconduct after the 2015 auction, the authorities merely issued warnings.
Cell phone network operator defend yourself
The network operators, however, are of the opinion that they have not violated the expansion requirements. They refer to an exception rule: Where expansion was not possible for legal and factual reasons – for example because no one wanted to rent a property on which a radio mast could be set up – the requirement is considered fulfilled even without a network.
However, the network agency is of the opinion that this justification does not apply in some cases – and that antennas could have been installed in some places.
Signal to the industry
According to industry sources, the number of violations is very low. If fines are ultimately imposed, they should be correspondingly low. The opening of the procedure is seen as a signal to the industry to make more effort in expanding and to fully comply with supply requirements.
The fact that this is now increasingly a concern for the Bonn authority could also be due to Klaus Müller: The former head of the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations has been President of the Network Agency since 2022. In his new role, he continues to be a strong advocate for consumer issues.
Praise from Consumer advocates and politicians
Federal politicians and consumer advocates reacted positively to the initiation of the fine proceedings. Praise came from FDP Bundestag member Reinhard Houben and Social Democrat Johanes Schätzl. The CSU politician Reinhard Brandl called the initiation of the procedure “absolutely right”.
Consumer advocate Felix Flosbach also welcomes the network agency’s tougher approach. If the authority now controls the network requirements more strictly and punishes offenses, it will help consumers – “today and in the future”.