Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone Deutschland and Telefonica have signed a letter of intent to jointly build 6,000 masts to meet their coverage obligations from the 5G auction last summer. 1&1 Drillisch has been invited to participate on condition of an equal contribution. Each operator shall build the same number of the masts, which then can be shared for installing the operators’ own active network elements.
Following a total investment of around €6.5 billion for the auction of the new spectrum licences last summer, the white spot areas and transport corridors will require further investments.
Operators continue to consider the coverage requirements imposed by the regulator BNetzA excessive and non-compliant with applicable legislation.
The joint effort will enable operators meet the coverage obligations in particular in rural areas, road, railway and inland waterway transport corridors in an economically viable manner.
The mobile operators have informed the cartel office on the intended cooperation. The telecom regulator BNetzA has earlier expressed a view that network sharing is meaningful. The details of the cooperation shall be agreed by spring 2020. Then the network expansion can begin soon.
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