The plans for the fourth German cellular network are making progress.
As the telecommunications group United Internet and the radio tower operator Vantage Towers announced on Thursday evening in Montabaur and Düsseldorf, a long-term lease was signed.
The United Internet subsidiary 1 & 1 is to have access to at least 3800 Vantage antenna locations in Germany by 2025, after which this number could increase to 5000.
The contract is initially valid for 20 years, after which there are options to extend until 2060.
In 2019, 1 & 1 Mobilfunk GmbH - at that time still under the name Drillisch Netz AG - bought mobile communications spectrum for around 1.1 billion euros for the first time in order to set up its own network.
So far, the company has been using the networks of long-established operators, above all from Telefónica.
Lengthy negotiations with competitors who were supposed to facilitate market entry resulted in a kind of alliance with Telefónica in February of this year.
Then 1 & 1 signed a contract with a network supplier in the summer.
Now the next step is choosing a location operator.
United Internet boss Ralph Dommermuth spoke of a central component in promoting the roll-out of the 5G mobile network.
1000 own base stations by the end of 2022
Vantage Towers' radio masts and rooftop sites were originally owned by Vodafone.
In March, the British telecommunications group brought this division to the stock exchange as a new company.
The company headquarters are in Düsseldorf.
As a designated network operator, 1 & 1 is under a certain amount of time pressure.
Because by the end of 2022, the company must have put at least 1,000 base stations into operation - this is what the Federal Network Agency's requirements for the frequency auction provide.
In addition, the 1 & 1 network must reach at least 25 percent of German households by the end of 2025 and at least 50 percent by the end of 2030.
There are currently three mobile networks in this country, from Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and Telefónica with its brand o2.
1 & 1 is well on the way to becoming number four - then the consumer would have more choice and competition could intensify.
On Thursday evening, the 1 & 1 parent company United Internet also issued a forecast for the coming financial year.
He expects consolidated sales of around 5.8 billion euros, more than the 5.6 billion euros expected for 2021.
The operating profit (Ebitda) should remain at the level of 2021 in the coming year, i.e. at around 1.25 billion euros, despite additional investments.