Chancellor Helge Braun (CDU) considers it necessary to intervene to fill gaps in Germany's mobile network. "I am in favor of the state being able to set up radio masts for the operators themselves if no one else does," said Braun of the Düsseldorf-based "Rheinische Post". Alternatively, support for better network coverage could be further improved.
"In any case, we have a duty of general interest to all citizens," emphasized Braun. He referred to the requirement for the mobile operators, according to which they must provide "99 percent of households with mobile reception". He may have meant 4G, so LTE reception, as it says in the joint statement by the federal government, countries, municipalities and providers to the mobile phone summit last summer. According to the current frequency allocation will now be the next step that companies said, which 99 percent were. "Then we know which last non-economic percent of households we need to look after," Braun said.
With the current frequency allocation Braun means the auction of the radio frequencies for the new portable radio standard 5G. It is currently taking place in Mainz and is now going on an Easter break until Tuesday afternoon. After 22 auction days with 218 laps, the highest bids so far amount to 5.358 billion euros, it says on the website of the Federal Network Agency.
Participating in the auction are Telekom, Vodafone, Telefónica Deutschland and 1 & 1 Drillisch. Most recently, it was preceded by triple steps - in each round, only one of the 41 blocks had a new, slightly higher bid. The one who was outbid then secured another block in the next round. The total of the highest bids rose only slightly.
Helge Braun said of the 5G auction that it was clear "that we can not expect astronomical sums in our high expansion commitments to companies." But more than five billion euros are "already a sum with which we can promote the expansion of fiber optic networks and therefore satisfies us".