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Vivek Badrinath listed Vantage Towers, Vodafone's radio tower company, this week.
His job is to find locations for cell phone antennas.
The company operates almost 20,000 such locations in Germany and rents them to Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and Telefónica.
A business with headwind: Because Badrinath not only has to face thorough bureaucracy in Germany, but also conspiracy theorists, who sometimes even become violent.
WELT AM SONNTAG:
Mr. Badrinath, you went public with Vantage Towers this week.
There is only trouble, no matter where you look.
Vivek Badrinath:
That surprises me now, I see it very differently: We are in an exciting and very positive business.
On the one hand, we help bring the mobile Internet to people.
The pandemic shows how important this is.
On the other hand, we enable the sharing of antenna locations.
And that helps network operators to roll out their networks more efficiently.
We are very optimistic about the future.
Why do you get the impression that there is trouble?
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WELT AM SONNTAG:
Let's start with the paradox we are experiencing in Germany: people complain about dead spots, but don't want a cell phone antenna near them.
Badrinath:
That is actually a contradiction.
If you don't bring the antenna to the people, they won't get the radio signal they want.
Everyone wants good coverage because everyone and the economy benefit from it.
The good thing is: As radio mast operators, we ensure that the network operators share the locations.
So there is less overall than if everyone built their own site.
WELT AM SONNTAG:
Is the new 5G cellular standard dangerous?
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Badrinath:
No.
5G is a further development of previous cellular technologies such as 4G or 3G.
In Europe, we mostly operate in the same frequency ranges.
And the frequency ranges that are newly added by 5G have long been in use in other areas, for example in driver assistance systems in cars.
The fear of 5G is unfounded.
We should stick to the facts that are verified by physicists and biologists.
WELT AM SONNTAG:
Still, it's about rays.
Badrinath:
We follow all technical standards and limit values that have been developed and set by internationally recognized scientists and health organizations, including the international commission for protection against non-ionizing radiation.
From her are the guidelines for electromagnetic fields.
The entire telecommunications industry ensures that these requirements are also adhered to
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WELT AM SONNTAG:
You have antenna sites in ten countries in Europe.
Are the Germans particularly afraid?
Badrinath:
One shouldn't exaggerate here.
Regardless of the country, only a very small part of the population really cares.
WELT AM SONNTAG:
A look at the social networks shows that especially with 5G, some people are almost panic.
Badrinath:
The internet often brings extreme perspectives to the surface.
And if you dig deeper and deeper into a rabbit hole, it will be difficult to get out.
WELT AM SONNTAG:
I went down the rabbit hole in preparation for our conversation.
It seems that 5G is responsible for a lot: a weak immune system, for example.
Or for the coronavirus.
Badrinath:
(laughs) I don't want to get tangled up in this rabbit hole.
However, I recently got a funny message.
Someone there said: Oh, now I have had my corona vaccination and still no 5G reception.
That gave me the rest.
WELT AM SONNTAG:
Cellular communications and conspiracy theories seem to go well together.
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Badrinath:
Each of us has gone through difficult times with the pandemic in the past twelve months.
I'm not surprised that conspiracy theories also arise during processing.
But cellular communications have made life easier for many people in lockdown.
WELT AM SONNTAG:
How dangerous are conspiracy theories?
Badrinath:
They are not based on facts and are misleading the population.
That is why conspiracy theories are always bad for a society.
WELT AM SONNTAG:
These theories can mostly be found on social media.
Are providers like Facebook and Google taking sufficient action against it?
Badrinath:
It is a complex and political matter.
We are certainly still at the beginning of this social debate.
At European level we are discussing who has the right to decide what is right and what is wrong.
Should it be the platforms or the states?
WELT AM SONNTAG:
Your business is directly affected.
There were attacks on cell phone sites.
Badrinath:
Fortunately, that happens very rarely.
Of course, it is unacceptable for property to be destroyed and people to be endangered.
An emergency call is not possible without a radio connection.
WELT AM SONNTAG:
Critics of 5G also point to the high energy consumption.
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Badrinath:
The new cellular
standard uses
energy very efficiently.
In terms of the individual user, the switch from 4G to 5G is also a step forward in terms of power consumption.
And at all of our locations, we only use electricity from renewable energy sources to supply our locations.
At the same time, digitization also means relief for the environment in many areas.
If we didn't have this conversation on video now, I would have driven or flown to you or you.
WELT AM SONNTAG: One of
your tasks is to find new antenna locations.
Have you already made the acquaintance of the German bureaucracy?
Badrinath:
If you ask me whether things could go faster with permits for locations, for example, I can only agree.
But that applies to almost all countries.
Basically, we see the authorities' good will to drive digitization forward in many places.
Last week we agreed with Thuringia to accelerate the approval process in the future.
Other federal states want to follow this example.
WELT AM SONNTAG:
How long does the approval of an antenna site take?
Badrinath:
It can take
anywhere
from a few months to two years.
WELT AM SONNTAG:
If radio network operators share the antenna locations with each other and also leave them to a tower company, don't they lose some of their independence and end up being interchangeable because they all have the same network quality?
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Badrinath:
That used to be a danger.
Today the network quality is defined less by the locations than more by the technical equipment and the auctioned frequencies.
WELT AM SONNTAG:
Germany is about to get a fourth network operator with Drillisch.
Will he use your antenna locations?
Badrinath:
Unfortunately, I cannot comment on that.
WELT AM SONNTAG:
Is it still possible to build a new national network without the help of a tower company?
Badrinath:
That is of course possible, but it would take a long time and cost a lot of money.
That's exactly what we're here for.
WELT AM SONNTAG:
You have almost 20,000 antenna
locations
in Germany alone.
Why not take the final step and become a cellular network operator yourself?
Badrinath:
Because it's a completely different business.
Mobile operators turn to end customers, they run their own businesses and offer their services to users.
Our business model is simple and reliable.
We build locations along with all associated structures and services, such as power connection, security concept, cooling system, etc. and rent them out with long-term contracts.
WELT AM SONNTAG:
Are you afraid of competitors like Elon Musk, who with his company Starlink sends thousands of small satellites into space that may one day connect directly to smartphones?
Then nobody needs an antenna on the ground and no Vantage Towers either.
Badrinath:
I don't think it will turn out that way.
Satellites can help connect antenna locations in remote areas to the Internet.
A terrestrial infrastructure usually has an advantage: the radio signal only has to bridge a few hundred meters to the user.
This is easier to do in terms of power consumption and antenna technology than sending signals into space and receiving them from there.
This efficiency has made cellular communications so widespread around the world.