BONN (dpa-AFX) - In the dispute with Germany's major cell phone network operators, small competitors have received some tailwind from leading politicians from federal politics and the German states. The advisory board of the Federal Network Agency on Monday unanimously adopted a position paper dealing with the upcoming 2024 allocation of cell phone frequencies. The letter states that "fair and non-discriminatory access" for competitors must be ensured. It's about companies that don't have their own network, but get capacity from network operators and use it to sell cell phone contracts. Freenet is one such company. The rule is expected to be decided by the Federal Network Agency in 2024.

However, the sentence leaves room for interpretation. After all, a regulation is already worded similarly. According to Freenet and other companies, this provision, which is about a "negotiation requirement" with no obligation to conclude a contract, is too weak. The network operators Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and Telefonica Deutschland, on the other hand, consider it sufficient - according to their presentation, this niche market is functioning very well, while Freenet is convinced of the opposite.

The fact that this sentence is fixed in the current debate as the position of leading politicians from the Bundestag and the federal states is interpreted as a finger pointing in favor of "service provider obligation" - such an obligation would be a tightening of said negotiation requirement. Then Freenet & Co could get 5G capacities more easily.

Anke Domscheit-Berg, a member of the Left Party in the German Bundestag, said the decision set the course for ensuring functioning competition and better safeguarding the interests of consumers as early as the upcoming frequency allocation process. "Everyone must be able to obtain affordable access to high-speed networks," said the digital policy expert.

From the point of view of SPD politician Johannes Schätzl, however, there are still open points to be clarified before taking such a step. He submitted a catalog of questions to the network agency. The answers should shed light on whether the market is actually failing at the moment or whether it is working after all. Only if competition is insufficient or endangered is the regulator likely to intervene and impose the obligation. At the same time, investments must be secured, the law states.

A spokesman for the Bonn regulatory authority said after the advisory board meeting that it was up to the Federal Network Agency to examine a service provider obligation in the frequency allocation procedure. "A decision has not yet been made."

Telefónica Deutschland CEO Markus Haas reacted sniffily to the advisory board's decision. It had spent a lot of money on spectrum - "trusting that it would not be forced to share this spectrum at dumping prices," he said Monday. If it comes to a service provider obligation, that would be "a devastating signal for future investments." "The German government's gigabit plans would thus be set back by many years." By contrast, the German Broadband Communications Association (Breko), which speaks for alternative broadband providers, was pleased, calling it an important signal for more competition in the mobile market./wdw/DP/ngu