Despite all the protests of the mobile phone companies, the Federal government is pushing ahead with a planned “Roaming-law”. It is a matter of planning reliability for the providers, “and since we are in discussion with the coalition groups, how we implement this best,” said transport Minister, Andreas Scheuer (CSU).

Helmut Bünder

economic correspondent in Düsseldorf.

F. A. Z.

The draft radio coverage in rural regions aims at better mobile, especially along the traffic routes. Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and O2 will be obliged to open their networks to competitors for a joint Use. Mobile phone customers about your own provider has no reception, could then make calls through foreign networks and to the Internet.

the Federal Economics Minister, Peter Altmaier, threatened the company. “The mobile providers need to fulfill their Commitments, otherwise the state will have consequences,” said the CDU politician of the Bild-Zeitung. “Every Radio a nonentity is in a high-technology country like Germany.”

“Considerable legal uncertainty”

The operators fear that the regional Roaming devalues your investments in expensive radio masts and broadcasting equipment. With the planned Amendment to the telecommunications act, the policy also proposes warnings to the Federal network Agency in the Wind. In the middle of the preparations for the spectrum auction for the new 5G mobile communications standard requirements would cause “significant legal uncertainties and the auction jeopardize the procedure,” it said in a letter to the Department before Christmas to the relevant ministries had sent.

The regulatory authority will, therefore, restrict themselves to a “negotiated bid”. With the network Agency, as an arbitration judge in the back, to negotiate the company of the terms and conditions for the shared Use of networks and infrastructures with each other. Forced solutions against the will of the corporations, not provided for in the conditions for Granting the frequencies.

company actions

The three providers are the relatively soft formulated pads to go too far. All of you have submitted meanwhile an appeal to the administrative court of Cologne. The completely unclear rules on Roaming are not expected to be a large barrier to Investment and the companies, said a spokesman for the German Telekom.