5G: High expectations — laborious progress

Mid-June We have already reported on the 5G network in Germany. What is the status after approx. 5 weeks? What has happened since then and what is the status of the expansion of the new network? While the frequency auction was recently completed in Germany, expansion is already progressing rapidly in other countries.

International comparison: Germany is in midfield

According to an investigation by the Arthur D. Little company, which compares 40 countries in terms of 5G expansion, Germany is in the middle of the pack. Admittedly, that doesn't sound so bad at first. Especially when you consider that more than half of the so-called 5G pioneers do not come from Europe. The clear leader here is South Korea, where 5G is already nationwide. But the Arab Emirates, Qatar, the USA and Australia have also made significant progress with their expansion. However, Finland and Switzerland prove that it is also possible for European countries to rapidly expand the network. But Great Britain, Italy and neighboring Austria are also well on their way to becoming 5G leaders. Now at the latest, you could ask yourself why an industrialized nation like Germany is only mediocre successful on such an important issue. The only thing more surprising is that EU member France only barely makes it into the lower midfield. The so-called “5G Laggards” (in German: sleepyheads) are mainly Eastern European countries, such as Bulgaria or Hungary. But Greece and Cyprus are also still sleeping in this regard. According to the consulting firm's analysis, the Philippines are at the bottom.

Pressure also from citizens

Internationally, people would have expected more from an economic state like Germany. Many citizens could now also be disappointed. According to one Statista survey The majority of the population expects better network coverage. Other expectations include higher speeds and fewer network outages. Only around 12% claim that 4G is enough for them. This low figure could be due to the fact that even the 4G network is not yet comprehensive. The pressure on the Federal Republic of Germany and mobile network operators is therefore increasing. If you want to meet the requirements, you have to try to find a joint solution as soon as possible.

What is it failing in the Federal Republic of Germany?

The word disagreement is probably the best. The providers are not only complaining about the expensive auction and that they now lack financial resources for expansion. They also regard the requirements of the Federal Network Agency as a brake on expansion. The latter in turn claims to want to push ahead with expansion with its guidelines. However, the providers themselves have clearly slept through the expansion of networks. So far, they have still not managed to offer the 4G network nationwide. In some parts of Germany (mostly in rural regions), there is even no network yet. This could also be due to the fact that Telekom and Co. want to equip major cities with the new network for the time being. Householders will also have to wait a bit longer. O2 announced that it would equip the (automotive) industry for the time being. They then wanted to offer individual customers a “sophisticated product” later on. However, this will not be the case before 2020, the Group claims. If you pay attention to the new provider 1&1, another problem quickly becomes apparent. As the mobile operator is new to the market, it does not yet have its own network infrastructure. As a next step, the newcomer would therefore like to talk to his competitors about a national roaming agreement.

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What is “national roaming” and what is the problem?

Each network operator sets up its own network. Some regions are better equipped by providers, others less so. While the three giants Telekom, Vodafone and Telefonica/O2 already have an infrastructure, competitor 1&1 is still relatively early on. This is where “national roaming” comes in. For example, if a 1&1 customer is in a poorly developed region, they could use their device to connect to the Deutsche Telekom network, provided that this is better there. The end user would therefore try it because their device always connects to the best network. Dead spots That would make history. However, this again results in the problem already mentioned above: Disagreement. Deutsche Telekom, for example, does not accept that competitors benefit from a network in which they have not invested themselves. The reasoning here is: Competitors lose the incentives to invest in their own network as a result. And this in turn would slow down network expansion.

What are the alternatives?

There with the Dispute between providers and the Federal Republic If there is still no end in sight, expansion could be delayed even further and progress only slowly. If you don't want to wait for it, you should continue to use WiFi. With the WLAN marketing package from Socialwave You can offer your guests carefree surfing. In this way, you can offer customers with poor mobile phone reception an alternative and at the same time carry out modern marketing for your own company.

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