German Government Stands Firm on Shutting Down 'Funkloch' Initiative

The German government is sticking to its plan to wind up the state-owned Mobilfunkinfrastrukturgesellschaft  (MIG), which was founded at the beginning of 2021, at the end of the year. MIG, which was set up with the aim of closing white spots in mobile communications coverage, will be "merged with the parent company Toll Collect GmbH", explains the executive in a recently published answer to a question from the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag. The end of MIG under company law has already been initiated. The majority of the "Funkloch-Amt"'s tasks would then no longer apply.

The Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV), which is in charge of the project, writes that of the tasks transferred to MIG in the agency agreement. There is only an obligation to have these tasks continued by another body for the administrative management of ongoing grant projects. The Federal Agency for Administrative Services (BAV) will be entrusted with this task.

The MIG was initiated by the former Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, Andreas Scheuer (CSU). It was intended to help close gaps in the mobile network that were not being expanded by the network operators due to a lack of economic viability. Critics, particularly from the FDP, saw this as a transition to a planned economy, which would not improve cell phone reception.

Continued MIG operation would be illegal under state aid law

The results achieved are clear: all 267 approved funding projects have been in the project implementation phase since the beginning of 2025 at the latest, according to the BMDV. "Four radio masts have already been completed." However, only two of them "have been equipped with active technology by at least one mobile network operator". These are in regular operation. This year, MIG intends to continue its activities as a "local caretaker" and prepare important site information for the construction of mobile phone masts, for example on available land, fiber optic connection points, connection options to power grids and unserved areas.

The federal government's billion-euro mobile communications funding program, which was used to build the MIG in Naumburg, expired at the end of 2024. In April, the Federal Council called for this to be continued and for the GmbH to continue operating. The government did not respond, "because the unchanged extension of the funding guideline would be inadmissible under state aid law". It plans to close the remaining white spots following the winding up of MIG "with the help of a dynamic market-driven expansion". The gigabit strategy contains accompanying measures for this, "which will be implemented successively". Further impetus could come from the provision of usage rights for frequencies in the 800, 1800 and 2600 MHz ranges from 2026. Meanwhile, the CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag announced in its "Agenda for policy change" that it wanted to preserve the MIG and continue its important work.

(nie)