Despite criticism: Federal Network Agency sticks to frequency extension

The Federal Network Agency has rejected calls for a service provider obligation in return for the five-year extension of frequency usage rights for network operators. Instead, the negotiation requirement for Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and Telefónica (o2) is to be supplemented by "guard rails" to promote effective settlement talks.

The negotiation requirement obliges mobile network operators to negotiate capacities with competitors without their own network. In the past, there have been repeated complaints that mobile network operators do not negotiate seriously. A service provider obligation, on the other hand, would force the three incumbent operators to lease some of their capacity to competitors who do not have their own infrastructure.

Deadline on Thursday

The regulatory authority has set out its position in a paper for a public hearing on the provision of mobile frequencies on Thursday. This date was requested by the mobile service provider Freenet.

In essence, the Federal Network Agency is sticking to the line set out in the draft of its Presidential Chamber from May 2024, i.e. it wants to extend the rights of use of the three major mobile network operators in the 800 MHz, 1.8 GHz and 2.6 GHz ranges until 2030. In return, it plans to impose stricter conditions for the further expansion of mobile networks. From 2030 onwards, the three top dogs are to cover around 99.5 percent of Germany as a whole with at least 50 Mbit/s download speeds.

The requirement to negotiate in favor of service providers and mobile communications discounters on the shared use of radio capacities, which the Bonn authority is based on, has existed in principle since 2018. However, it has "proven to be ineffective in practice", complained the broadband association Breko in July. It therefore demanded an effective service provider obligation in favor of "all suitable demanders". Without such a correction, the frequency extension is likely to be illegal in the opinion of industry representatives. Similar appeals were made by the German Federation of Consumer Organizations (vzbv).

Decision as soon as possible

The Federal Network Agency now only wants to provide "a benchmark in the form of concrete provisions" for the negotiations in order to promote the effectiveness of the talks. In principle, the latter should be "non-discriminatory and the capacities to be provided should not be limited to certain services, radio technologies or applications". At the request of 1&1, the top dogs should also negotiate with the newcomer about the shared use of existing nationwide networks for national roaming. These negotiations must be "fair", according to the statement. If 1&1 has not received an offer by the beginning of 2026, the authority reserves the right to order national roaming.

The planned frequency procedure, which is now taking on a firmer form, has been controversial for some time. The Monopolies Commission, for example, argued that the licenses should be extended by a maximum of three years. The Bundeskartellamt (Federal Cartel Office) was completely opposed to extending the rights of use. However, Klaus Müller, President of the Federal Network Agency, reiterated on Wednesday: "Our goals are to improve mobile telephony and further promote competition. We want to link the extension of the frequencies with ambitious coverage requirements." There are "special regulations" for 1&1.

In the medium term, the regulatory authority wants to make the spectrum available for use after the end of 2030 in a larger, competitive process context, in particular together with the usage rights expiring in 2033 and 2036, while aligning the terms. It has called on interested parties to present their positions once again at the local hearing. The agency then wants to make a final decision on the provision of mobile frequencies as quickly as possible "in order to create legal and planning certainty for the market".

(mma)