Users uncover dead spots – especially in the southwest and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

Naumburg. Overall, coverage in the German mobile network is high, but regional gaps remain. This is the result of the first nationwide mobile network measurement week. According to the results, around 98 percent of the measurement points were in the two most modern network technologies, 4G and 5G. Dead spots were found in less than one percent of the recorded measurement points, the Federal Network Agency stated in response to an inquiry. However, even larger coverage gaps were evident in some areas.

The aim of the mobile communications measurement week was to compare the network operators' data with the user perspective, said René Henn of the Federal Network Agency at a conference of the Mobile Communications Infrastructure Company (MIG) in Naumburg. According to the Federal Network Agency, more than 150,000 people participated in the measurement week in May. Data was stored anonymously via a "dead spot" app on users' mobile phones and passed on to the Federal Network Agency. The data will now be used to review the coverage reported by network operators and to confront them with structural or noticeable local discrepancies, according to a spokesperson for the Federal Network Agency.

Entire regions suffer from a "development deficit" in mobile communications. Users there can only make phone calls and send short text messages. In sparsely populated areas, mobile broadband is not expected to be available to almost all households until 2028.

According to the analysis, the largest gaps were found in Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. No network was found at 1.12 percent of the measurement points in each of these states. Across Germany, this was the case at 0.76 percent of the measurement points. In 1.27 percent of the measurements, only a 2G network was available, which, due to the transmission speeds, is only suitable for telephony and text messaging. The largest areas were Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, with 2.25 percent.

The Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs considers the results of the measurement week a success. Approximately 145 million valid measurement points were recorded, prompting the expansion of the measurement week concept, a ministry spokesperson stated. The reported data covered approximately 16 percent of the federal territory. While no general statements about the supply situation in Germany can be made on this basis, the measurements do provide insight into the areas facing the greatest challenges of network expansion.

RND/dpa