Broadband expansion in Schleswig Holstein

Coverage requirement now also met for 800 MHz band in Schleswig Holstein

Kurth: "Half of the thirteen federal states covered"

Year of issue 2011
Date of issue 2011.12.28

As the year draws to a close, mobile operators have now also met the coverage requirement for the 800 MHz band in Schleswig Holstein, which follows Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, North-Rhine Westphalia, Rhineland Palatinate and Saarland as the seventh state covered. The three companies, Telekom Deutschland GmbH, Vodafone D2 GmbH and Telefónica Germany GmbH & Co. OHG are now able to freely use the frequencies they purchased in the 800 MHz band there too.

"Eighteen months after the auction of the 800 MHz frequencies, broadband expansion has made such progress that requirements have already been met in half of the thirteen federal states with limited broadband coverage. I expect that network operators will continue to drive forward network expansion in the coming year in order to improve broadband provision", stated Matthias Kurth, Bundesnetzagentur President.

Frequencies for wireless network access in the 800 MHz, 1.8 GHz, 2.0 GHz and 2.6 GHz bands were auctioned in early 2010. Assignments of these 800 MHz frequencies involve progressive coverage and roll-out obligations. Prior to the auction, the federal states cited towns and districts with little or no broadband coverage, which were grouped into four priority levels depending on their number of inhabitants.

When using the 800 MHz frequencies in the states, a network operator is obligated to provide broadband connections progressively to the towns and cities, in line with the individual priority levels. Towns and districts with less than 5,000 inhabitants have top priority (level 1) for mobile broadband provision. The next levels then include access for larger towns. As soon as the coverage requirement has been fulfilled, the assignees are able to use the 800 MHz frequencies freely in the respective federal state. All technologies implemented (wireless, DSL, cable etc) are considered when establishing whether the requirement has been met.

Press release (pdf / 821 KB)

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