On train routes, mobile phone companies are still only allowed to use an important frequency to a very limited extent in order to improve the mobile phone network. By December 11, all locomotives should actually have new, “hardened” devices. But the conversion is slow, according to the Federal Network Agency, more than 1,000 of the 14,000 registered traction units in Germany are still not converted.
This is mainly about freight trains from competitors of Deutsche Bahn. In order to prevent many trains from being suddenly no longer allowed to run, the regulatory authority declared a decision by DB Netze to be invalid and postponed the deadline to December 14, 2024.
There is now massive criticism of this: the new schedule appears “unambitious and disproportionately long,” says Deutsche Telekom. More speed is needed “to advance the important provision of mobile communications on trains”. Telekom is in favor of release in mid-2023. Deutsche Bahn is also in favor of “a short-term postponement of a few months”.
We very much regret the long postponement, says a railway spokesman. “Now around three billion passengers who use our trains every year have to wait another two years for better mobile communications on the rail routes.” Vodafone says that the extra frequency is important for the goal of an uninterrupted data connection for mobile work or streaming on the train. “If we activate the additional area frequencies along the tracks, we will come a step closer to this goal,” says Tanja Richter, head of technology at Vodafone Germany.
Interference with the GSM-R railway radio is feared
Several media had previously reported on the Federal Network Agency’s decision. It’s about the 900-megahertz frequency band, in which mobile phone network operators have so far not been allowed to transmit from cell phone masts that are in the immediate vicinity of the tracks. The reason for this is that interference with the GSM-R railway radio is feared. Engine drivers, signal boxes, construction crews and dispatchers use the to communicate with each other. With new technology – so-called hardened terminals – such interference no longer occurs. Therefore, all railway companies operating in Germany have been obliged to convert to these robust end devices by December 11, 2022. The federal government assumed up to 100 percent of the costs.
The area directly next to the railway line is affected by the radio ban in the 900 frequency band. This is where most of the transmission masts that are intended to supply the routes are located. Exactly these stations are still not allowed to transmit in 900 megahertz. From a distance of 500 meters this is possible after a case-by-case check, but the check is complicated and takes time.
From such masts, which are quite far away, the companies could transmit in 900 megahertz to the tracks after a positive individual test, since the distance between their stations and the railway radio transmitters is large enough. In fact, according to information from the mobile communications industry, this possibility hardly plays a role because the network operators have their stations as close as possible to the tracks.
Locomotives must be converted to “hardened” terminals
It is mainly about freight trains from railway competitors, Deutsche Bahn itself is relatively far – according to its own statements, it has prepared 97 percent of its vehicles accordingly, and the conversion process should be completed in summer 2023. 6000 DB vehicles are ready to go.
The network agency considers the new two-year period to be necessary. The authority refers to figures according to which a more rapid approach could have negative consequences for rail traffic, for example for coal transport, which has become so important during the energy crisis.
According to the findings of the Bonn authorities, more than 800 locomotives will probably not have been converted by July 2023 and more than 400 by the beginning of 2024. “Vehicles that are used in cross-border freight transport in several countries will then be primarily affected,” says the network agency. It was not until the end of 2024 that the authorities believed that the situation would have eased to such an extent that the obligation for the “hardened” devices could take effect and would not have any major consequences for train traffic.