By the end of the year, the network operators Telefonica and Telekom want to let each other on the network at up to 700 locations.
(Photo: dpa)
München In the fight against dead spots, a cooperation between the three major German mobile phone providers is making progress. The network operator Telefónica (O2) announced on Thursday in Munich that it had activated 200 of its own locations for Deutsche Telekom and had access to the same number of locations.
By the end of the year, the two network operators want to let each other on the network at up to 700 locations. These are what are known as gray spots, where only one or two networks are available and not all three.
Anyone who has a contract with the provider who is not present there is in a dead zone. According to information from the Federal Network Agency in July of this year, such gray patches cover a fifth of Germany’s area, most of which are in rural areas.
Vodafone, Telekom and O2 work together to combat dead spots
The industry cooperation, which is intended to conserve expansion resources, began in 2020, when Telekom and Vodafone closed ranks. After the Federal Cartel Office expressed concern about the cooperation of these market giants, the third German network operator was also brought on board, ie Telefónica with its O2 brand.
Tagus Top-Jobs
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
After the green light from the competition authorities, Telekom and Vodafone quickly got started with the mutual provision. As the two companies announced on Thursday, they are already at a total of 2,600 locations where the customers of the other provider are now also connected to the network – 1300 dead spots have disappeared for every company. 200 more are to follow.
>> Read here: Mobile startup Gigs raises millions from prominent tech investors
In the meantime, the first antennas have also been mutually activated between Vodafone and Telefónica.
Telefónica Deutschland boss Markus Haas said that consumers and the economy needed rapid progress in mobile coverage. “The cooperative use of locations of the three nationwide active network operators is an important step.”
More: Mobile network operators want to offer hologram calls