The start of the fourth mobile network in Germany is not going smoothly. Operator 1&1 rejects the blame for this. It is said that Vodafone would get in the way of the new competitor when setting up its own network. 1&1 blackens the Düsseldorf-based company with the Federal Cartel Office.
Challenge to Vodafone: 1&1 blackens competitors
1&1 wants to file a complaint against competitor Vodafone with the Federal Cartel Office. This was announced by the group behind 1&1, United Internet. Therefore one accuses Vodafone of being largely to blame bear in mind that 1&1 the Goal for building your own 5G mobile network for the end of 2022 missed has: Instead of putting 1,000 locations into operation at the turn of the year, as actually required by the Federal Network Agency, the first five masts were only recently put into operation.
However, the failure is not with 1&1, but with Vantage Towers. The company builds cell phone masts and until recently belonged to Vodafone. Even today, the British provider with German headquarters in Düsseldorf holds the majority of the shares. According to 1&1 is Vodafone is still responsible for organizing the shared use of locations, built by Vantage Towers. 1&1 relies on the cooperation with Vantage Towers both for new masts and for shared locations.
According to the accusation, however, Vodafone disturbed this. “In contrast to 1&1, Vodafone had 1,600 5G antenna sites based on Vantage Towers infrastructure at the end of 2022,” 1&1 writes in a statement. In addition, representatives of Vodafone and Vantage Towers 1&1 have now informed that the construction of further locations will be delayed again.
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“In particular, the expansion targets planned for the first quarters of 2023 should be clearly missed. An end to what Vodafone did at Vantage Towers Preference for expansion activities for Vodafone at the expense of 1&1 network development therefore still not foreseeable,” criticized 1&1.
At the same time, Vodafone Mood against 1&1 in the context of frequency allocation: Without a network, you don’t need to take 1&1 into account when awarding a contract. Instead, the established network operators should receive an extension – at least that’s how 1&1 sums up Vodafone’s alleged arguments. Vodafone has responded to the allegations by 1&1 on demand not voiced (Source: dpa via Handelsblatt). If 1&1 continues to miss the expansion targets, penalties from the Federal Network Agency can be expected.
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