One year after the billion-euro 5G auction: where Germany stands
Telekom, Vodafone, Telefónica and 1&1 Drillisch paid 6.5 billion euros for their 5G frequencies. One year on, the rollout race has begun.
What is at stake
One year after Germany’s 5G spectrum auction in Mainz, it is time for a stocktake. Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, Telefónica and 1&1 Drillisch paid 6.5 billion euros for access to the future network. The phase of massive rollout is now beginning. Who has delivered? Who is lagging? And when will 5G actually be available to consumers? Handelsblatt has analysed the state of all four network operators.
The starting position
The obligations are strict. All motorways and rail connections must be supplied with 5G. Federal Network Agency president Jochen Homann promises close monitoring. At the last spectrum auction in 2015, too many dead zones remained despite the rules – that should not happen again. But the pressure on the carriers is high: on top of spectrum fees they must invest billions in antennas, fibre backhaul connections and new mast sites.
Who leads, who lags
Telekom is ahead. At the time of this assessment the Bonn-based carrier has the most 5G sites in operation. Vodafone is following. Telefónica is concentrating on urban centres. 1&1 Drillisch is the laggard and must build its network entirely from scratch – a mammoth task carrying high risk. The gap between operators could widen considerably over the coming years. Whoever delivers early on 5G wins market share.
What the technology promises
5G is not just faster mobile data. The very low latency – the extremely short response time between sender and receiver – makes new applications possible: connected production, autonomous driving, Industry 4.0 scenarios. German industry is waiting to digitalise its production processes. The question is whether Germany fulfils its promise of becoming a 5G lead market – or whether other countries move faster while Germany’s networks are built too slowly.
I wrote the full piece for Handelsblatt.