1&1 enters into a cooperation with Vodafone and now offers its customers 5G. The provider also announced that it wants to start as an independent network operator.
Bild: 1&1
Up to now, 1&1 only had a very small network and was dependent on external help in order to be able to offer its customers good services. This help came in the form of a cooperation with O2. So far, customers have been able to enjoy LTE quality in the Telefonica Deutschland network – but there was no 5G. This was an explicit part of the agreement between O2 and 1&1.
On August 2nd, the mobile phone provider from Montabaur surprisingly announced that a “long-term, exclusive“ Agreement with Vodafone. For 1&1 customers, this agreement means that they can use the Vodafone network in parts of Germany where the 1&1 network is not sufficient – including a 5G connection! This includes future standards. The agreement should come into force on October 1, 2024 at the latest. As long as there is access to the O2 network, but without 5G. Initially, a term of five years is planned. However, 1&1 has the right to extend this term up to two times by five years each, followed by a three-year transitional period. The agreement could therefore extend to a full 18 years.
At the end of September, 1&1 would then like to launch its own mobile network. As soon as national roaming is ready for use by Vodafone, 1&1 will finally be able to offer 5G mobile phone tariffs.
Expansion is progressing slowly
It has long been no secret that 1&1 wants to be the fourth network operator to start up in Germany alongside Telekom, Vodafone and O2. In June 2019, the company 1&1 Drillisch secured 50 MHz in the 3.6 GHz frequency range and 20 MHz in the 2 GHz range in a 5G frequency auction. However, the expansion of the company’s own network has not yet gone as planned. At the end of 2022 it became known that 1&1 had not expanded 1000 antenna sites in Germany as planned, but only five. By June 30, 2023, that number had increased to 40.
outlook
We can be curious to see how the fourth in the group will fare in the future. Until the cell phone network is stable enough, customers will initially surf O2’s 4G network before they make the leap to Vodafone’s 5G network by the fourth quarter of 2024 at the latest. It is currently not possible to predict when 1&1 will no longer be dependent on third-party networks.
Those: 1&1