Local Roaming obligations in Germany would pose a threat in the opinion of the works Council of Deutsche Telekom thousands of jobs.

“Would such a Roaming, devalues our investment and future expenditure in infrastructure, and thus also to the staff would have to be lowered,” said Telekom works Council chief Josef Bednarski of the German press Agency. In the long term, so clearly the staff would have to be saved – in the case of the three network operators Telekom, Telefónica and Vodafone, will invest in the expansion of the grid, would be a total of a five-digit number of jobs from the cutbacks threatened, he says.

The local Roaming is a proposal of the parliamentary groups of the CDU and the SPD, so that consumers in the radio holes are connected in areas in the country for free with other networks. Bednarski holds for “populism”, far from the economic reality.

this spring, the auction of frequencies for the new mobile generation, 5G is the technology with your high-speed Internet is particularly important for industry. The Federal network Agency in its public procurement rules to roaming obligations waived – it relies on the fact that the different companies in the industry negotiate with each other. The Deputy heads of the parliamentary groups in the Bundestag are calling for a rapid change in the law, to the local roaming obligation to enforce.

Shortly before Christmas, submitted by Telefónica (O2) and Vodafone lawsuit against the rules of the 5G-frequency allocation. The Telecom had previously stated, to check legal action. First of all, it was still unclear whether the Bonn-connect the actions of the competition.

the works Council Bednarski had written together with his counterparts at Telefónica and Vodafone a letter to the policy, to warn of the negative consequences. The employee representatives emphasise that the Roaming plans for the auction means legal uncertainty for the network operator – the company did not know because of the possible change in the law, what are the requirements and what are the financial prospects you have with the 5G frequencies. Telefonica and Vodafone stressed with a view to their complaints because of a desire to achieve legal clarity.

Would the roaming obligation would be the construction of radio masts on Land even less attractive than before, argues Bednarski. The rationale is that A network operator would have to allow its competitors to the antennas, he could no longer points to the customer so as the sole provider of a good network in a Region. “The currency would then “builds Who loses” – because you would have to leave the competition, not to expand on it, and no longer a competitive advantage,” said Bednarski. Accordingly, restrained the power would be operator and the Expansion in the country would warn the non-starter that he is.

The employee representative also provides jobs in other areas of the industry in danger. “5G would not have to be so quickly and comprehensively developed as it is, the industry in Germany to remain competitive.”

a Telekom competitor for the United Internet brand 1&1 roaming a rating of obligations, in contrast, is positive – the company has no own network, but uses the Telefónica network. Currently United Internet considers to be the 5G auction for the fourth network operator in Germany.

dpa