MONTABAUR (dpa-AFX) - Germany's newest mobile provider 1&1 wants to have a possible obstruction by British competitor Vodafone examined after significant delays in the construction of its 5G network. This Friday, the United Internet subsidiary plans to file a corresponding complaint with the Federal Cartel Office, 1&1 announced surprisingly in Montabaur on Thursday evening. Vodafone is the main shareholder of the radio tower company Vantage Towers, which is to build the sites for 1&1, among others. A spokeswoman for the radio tower company would not comment on the case when asked.

1&1 wants to take off as the fourth German network operator and is currently building its network. By the end of 2022, the company was supposed to meet the government's rollout obligation of 1,000 activated 5G stations - but according to the latest information, only 5 were. According to 1&1, Vantage Towers is the "most important rollout partner by far" and has "almost completely missed the contractually agreed rollout targets."

Germany is by far the most important market for telecommunications provider Vodafone. However, the Group has stumbled significantly in this country in recent quarters. Most recently, for example, the telecom provider was only able to win 8,000 mobile customers after deducting cancellations - its competitors Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica Deutschland increased their net new customer contract figures in the six-digit range during the periods./ngu/he