Deutsche Telekom (DT) has become the latest operator to file a lawsuit against the conditions for participating in Germany’s 5G mobile spectrum auction, which is scheduled to take place in the spring, Die Welt reports. In November last year the Federal Network Agency (FNA, known locally as the Bundesnetzagentur or BNetzA) tightened up the auction rules by imposing more extensive coverage obligations and including measures to promote competition, such as national roaming requirements. ‘From the outset, we said that the conditions imposed on the auction are unrealistic and create legal uncertainty,’ a DT spokesman was quoted as saying, adding: ‘The tightened expansion requirements go well beyond what the FNA has previously described as reasonable and proportionate.’ DT states that the new conditions discourage further investment in network infrastructure, particularly in rural areas.
DT, which provides fixed and mobile services in Germany through its Telekom Deutschland unit, joins competitors Telefonica and Vodafone in suing the regulator to determine the legality of the new conditions.