2024-08-27 12:25:31
A court ruling reveals that the Federal Network Agency’s allocation of 5G frequencies was unlawful. Former Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer exerted massive influence.
The allocation of 5G mobile network frequencies in 2019 by the Federal Network Agency was unlawful, according to a court ruling. The Federal Ministry of Transport under then Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) had exerted “massive” and “unlawful” influence on the network agency, the Cologne Administrative Court declared on Tuesday.
In 2019, the Federal Network Agency launched an auction in which the rights to use 5G mobile network frequencies were auctioned off to mobile network operators such as Vodafone and Telekom. The aim of this auction was to expand nationwide coverage of the mobile network.
At that time, the established providers – Telekom, Vodafone and Telefónica – auctioned off the majority of the 5G spectrum, which made competition more difficult for the smaller mobile operator 1&1 Drillisch. It also concerns a so-called service provider obligation demanded by smaller mobile operators: the large providers with their own network would be obliged to allow smaller providers who do not have their own network infrastructure to use the networks at regulated prices. Media reports in recent years had already suggested that Minister Scheuer was deliberately preventing this.
In fact, the rules set by the Federal Network Agency in 2018 only stipulate that the large providers must negotiate with the smaller ones about shared use. In practice, this means that even today, smaller mobile phone providers can only offer 5G tariffs at higher prices. The lack of competition generally results in higher mobile phone prices in Germany.
Smaller providers had repeatedly filed lawsuits against the award rules, but initially failed in lower courts. In 2021, the Federal Administrative Court then decided differently and referred the case back to Cologne. The administrative court there should examine whether the Federal Network Agency had been biased in its decision, as there were indications of undue influence from politicians.
The Cologne court confirmed these allegations in its ruling on Monday. The influence of Scheuer’s ministry (BMVI) has been proven and was so forceful that the independence of the Federal Network Agency, which is guaranteed by EU law, was damaged, as the court explained. It is therefore obvious that the Federal Network Agency’s decision would have been different without the influence of the BMVI. Lawsuits filed by smaller mobile phone providers to be able to use the network infrastructure at lower prices must now be renegotiated.