White spots: mobile operators miss expansion target – economy

When the monthly data volume is used up, you quickly realize how useless a smartphone is without a reasonably fast data connection – almost everything runs over the Internet. Standing without a data network, that can also happen when you are traveling in one of the still far too numerous white spots in Germany. This is the name of areas in which it is usually possible to make phone calls, but where there is no internet connection via the mobile network. The mobile phone providers Telekom, Vodafone and Telefónica should actually have removed 500 of these white spots from the map by the end of this year, according to the requirements of the Federal Network Agency. But when they come to the authority’s advisory board meeting this Monday, they will come up with a rather poor balance sheet on this point.

The authority apparently did not use the latest figures in its report on the status of the expansion, which was published a few days ago. According to Telefónica, they have already supplied more locations than the 45 mentioned in the report. According to their own statements, Vodafone has also made progress. But it turns out that the network operators are having a hard time meeting the requirements. Finally, these also stipulate that the white spots should be supplied with a bandwidth of 100 megabits per second (Mbit/s) – i.e. with fast Internet.

In addition, there is what the mobile phone companies have been complaining about for a long time: a lot of bureaucracy is necessary for the approvals, long planning processes further delay the matter. “The construction of new locations, especially in the area, requires a long lead time,” says Telefónica Deutschland boss Markus Haas.

The underserved areas are where big business is not expected

But it is also clear that eliminating the white spots is not exactly one of the mobile operators’ favorite tasks. After all, the underserved areas are exactly where big business isn’t expected: in forests and other more remote regions. But if farmers or foresters want to use digital technologies sensibly, they also need an internet connection in the fields and forests. In order not to look so bad, the providers make do with mobile transmitter systems, and systems from the competition are used on both sides.

This also helps with the so-called gray spots. These are areas that are only served by one network operator. If you are a customer of another operator, you will not get an Internet connection. That changes when companies grant each other access to remote locations. This is how it works on a much larger scale for the fourth mobile operator in Germany, 1&1. The company may use Telefónica’s network where it does not have its own network. This is a long-term contract between the two companies. 1&1 actually wanted to be a lot further with its own network expansion, but is struggling with problems.

It looks better when expanding the network with the currently most advanced standard 5G. The Federal Network Agency states that almost four fifths of the country’s area (79 percent) is already supplied with electricity as of October. With 4G it is even 97 percent, the remaining three percent are the white spots in which you can at most make phone calls. All German mobile operators switched off the 3G network, also known as UMTS, in 2021. The radio frequencies used for this are used for 4G and 5G.

5G currently does not bring any really decisive advantage for most consumers. In addition, anyone who wants to use it also needs a corresponding device and a contract that includes 5G. 5G is not yet a matter of course, especially for cheaper cell phones, but the proportion of 5G-enabled smartphones in new devices is growing rapidly. 5G capability is now standard in the luxury class.

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