German mobile communications market

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Development of the number of customers and market share of the German mobile network by operator before 2012

In Germany, nine licenses for digital cellular mobile communications have been issued since January 2006, four of which are for the GSM and UMTS networks of the mobile communications network operators active in Germany. The license from Mobilcom AG was returned to the Federal Network Agency at the end of 2003 , and the UMTS license from Quam was withdrawn from the operator (after the operator had stopped operating) due to the failure to meet the expansion and utilization criteria.

The German mobile communications market is regulated by the Federal Network Agency .

Market development

Since 2004, more and more cell phone discounters have been entering the German market. Mostly they are subsidiaries founded by large mobile communications companies that also use their mobile communications networks or OEM / branding products that use the names and sales channels of established brands in order to target their customer base.

Development of the minute prices
time lowest
uniform
price per minute 		Basic
pioneer
October 2004 35.0 ct Tchibo Mobil (o2)
May 2005 19.0 ct Simyo (E-Plus)
November 2005 16.0 ct easyMobile (D1 / D2)
December 2005 15.0 ct Aldi Talk (E-Plus)
September 2007 9.9 ct Fonic (o2)
February 2008 9.0 ct Fonic (o2)
May 2008 8.0 ct maXXim (o2)
April 2009 7.5 ct discoTEL (o2 / D2)
July 2011 7.0 ct EXPRESSmobil (E-Plus)
December 2011 6.0 ct n-tv go! (E-Plus)
October 2012 5.0 ct GALERIAmobil (E-Plus)

The competition among mobile phone discounters has led to a steady decline in prices in this market segment: since Tchibo Mobil was launched in October 2004, the standard price per minute in all mobile phone networks has fallen steadily from 35 cents to 15 cents when Aldi Talk entered the market in December 2005 , where the consolidation found a temporary resting point and many providers oriented themselves to this price per minute.

In September 2007, with the launch of Fonic at a minute price of 9.9 cents in all mobile networks, a new price round was heralded, which in turn a number of competitors adapted. As a result, the providers further undercut each other through various market entries, when GALERIAmobil last appeared on the market in the basic tariff to this day with a price per minute of 5 cents.

Today the prices for telephony continue to fall due to other tariff offers such as flat rates. In 2018 , Aldi Talk was the first provider to introduce an all-network flat rate for € 7.99 per 28 days; other providers followed suit.

Networks and network operators

Market shares in the regular German mobile communications market in 2015
Market shares * of the three mobile network operators in Germany (as of November 2018)

The two large D networks are operated by Telekom Deutschland and Vodafone . With the takeover of E-Plus by Telefónica Deutschland (O₂), the greatly enlarged Telefónica Deutschland rose to become Germany's largest mobile operator with 42.1 million customer connections at the end of 2014. By summer 2017, 60 percent of Telefónica Deutschland's customers should be able to use both LTE networks (E-Plus and O₂) together. Both networks should be completely merged by 2020. According to the network operator to the Federal Network Agency, in the first quarter of 2019 the Telekom Deutschland network had around 44.7 million, that of Vodafone around 47.9 million and that of Telefonica Deutschland around 45.1 million subscribers. In total, there were a little over 137 million mobile phone contracts in Germany.

With an average revenue per user ( ARPU ) of just 25 euros per month, Germany lags behind comparable markets such as Austria ( ARPU : 35 euros).

Due to the high UMTS license fees, German mobile network operators had announced that they would pass these costs on to GSM users. If you compare the price development with other markets, this project seems to have been realized. The result is disadvantageous for both customers and network operators: Customers largely do without new cell phones, so that network operators only generate low sales with a relatively fixed cost structure.

The vast majority of cell phone users are direct customers of one of the three large network operators. Other users are customers of providers without their own network infrastructure, so-called Mobile Virtual Network Operator MVNO , mostly as mobile radio discounters, including subsidiaries of the network operators.

A smaller market segment is served by resellers ( resellers / branding retailers / mobile network operators ). As a rule, you do not act as a provider , but your customers are usually involved in the terms and conditions of a higher-level service provider with one of the network operators. Very few new providers appear as their own brand / service provider, as this would require the existence of customer care, billing, process and web systems. The reseller customers will i. d. Usually, however, it is managed via the existing systems of an existing provider, so that the effort for the reseller is extremely low and thus the end customer prices can be correspondingly low.

Network codes

Due to the number portability that has been possible since 2002, it is no longer possible to identify the associated mobile network from the prefixes of the mobile phone subscriber numbers.

All German network prefixes for mobile communications have in common that they are made up of the national traffic code number 0 , the network code 15/16/17 and the one to two-digit block code . (For network identifier 15 , the block identifier has two digits, otherwise it has one digit.)

The area codes are assigned by the Federal Network Agency as follows, see also area code 01 :

  • Telecom: 01511, 01512, 01514, 01515, 01516, 01517, 0160, 0170, 0171, 0175
  • Vodafone: 01520, 01522, 01523, 01525, 01526 (from March 2014), 0162, 0172, 0173, 0174, 01529 (Tru)
    • Virtual network operator (uses Vodafone network, own infrastructure in the background): 01521 Lycamobile
  • O 2 : 01590, 0176, 0179, 01573, 01575, 01577, 01578, 0163, 0177, 0178
    • Virtual network operators (use O 2 network , own infrastructure in the background): 01570 Telogic (discontinued), 01579 Sipgate Wireless

Differences between the prefix and block identifier limit

According to the German electoral system, it makes no difference which part of a telephone number is the area code and which number is. Therefore z. B. in the case of the telecom area code and block identifier s limit turn out different, z. B. 0151 instead of 0151x (with network and block identifier 151x), and on the registration confirmations for newly assigned phone numbers from this area are also identified in this way. Technically, the difference makes sense, because for every regular mobile phone number there is a second number for the mailbox, which is switched as a diversion when activated. It differs by inserting an "infix" between the area code announced by the provider and the subscriber number. For example, the mobile phone number 0176 123456 includes the mailbox number 0176 33 123456 (ie with the infix “33” for O 2 ). These Infix identification numbers differ depending on the area code and are retained (with the exception of Vodafone) even when ported to another provider. A mailbox that is not activated as forwarding can still be reached via this second number. If it should not be available via this second number either, the mailbox can be completely deactivated via the provider.

Determine network affiliation

The actual network for a call number can be determined by telephone via the mobile network operator. To do this, choose one of the following numbers depending on your own network provider / provider and then enter the area code and phone number of the relevant connection:

  • Telecom landline: Call (0 18 05) 00 11 33 (14  ct / min. From the German landline, mobile network max. 42 ct / min.)
  • Telekom mobile communications: Call 43 87 (free of charge within the network) or SMS with a number to speed dial 43 87 (prices depending on tariff)
  • Vodafone: Call 1 23 13 (free within the network), Call (08 00) 5 05 20 90 (free / also available for non-Vodafone customers)
  • O 2 : SMS with " NETZ phone number" to speed dial 46 36 (free within the network)
  • mobilcom-debitel and Talkline also offer queries on their website.
  • Congstar : Call 43 87 (free of charge within the network)

Queries can also be made via the Internet.

Market research

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

Since the 3rd quarter of 2006 there are more mobile phone connections in Germany than residents. In the 2nd quarter of 2008 there were already more than 100 million connections. Numbers of more than 100% market penetration result from numerous second cell phones , missing files, booking tricks when counting customers and cell phone cards for notebooks .

According to a study carried out in June 2005, mobile communications are used equally by men and women. However, there were differences with regard to the age and schooling of the mobile phone users: 85% of the 14 to 34 year olds had a mobile phone, compared to only 31% of the over 65 year olds. While 85% of high school graduates and university graduates had a mobile phone, it was only 55% of those who had completed secondary school. About 30% of the population in Germany did not have a cell phone.

In 2013 the situation had developed as follows: 68% of the elderly (aged 65 and over) owned a cell phone. In the age cohort between 14 and 49 years, 97% of the population had a cell phone. The difference in educational level still exists: 94% of residents with a university entrance qualification had a mobile phone, compared to 84% of residents with a secondary school leaving certificate. Only 10% of the population did not have a cell phone.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Tchibo: Prepaid cards with a unit price of 35 cents , teltarif.de, September 30, 2004
  2. ↑ ALDI prepaid with 15 cents per minute , teltarif.de, December 2, 2005
  3. ↑ Rumors about the O2 discounter Fonic are increasing , teltarif.de, August 30, 2007
  4. ↑ Tariff - GALERIAmobil. Retrieved October 2, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Aldi Talk starts Allnet-Flat for less than 8 euros. Retrieved September 12, 2019 .
  6. ↑ https://windowsunited.de/quartalszahlen-vodafone-deutschland-ist-das-groesste-mobilfunknetz-in-deutschland/
  7. ↑ Subscriber development in mobile radio: Number of subscribers by network and quarter according to the annual reports of the network operators. Federal Network Agency, March 2, 2015
  8. ↑ O2 and E-Plus: Telefónica is concentrating on merging the networks. In: golem.de. Retrieved May 12, 2016 .
  9. ↑ Federal Network Agency - mobile radio subscribers. Retrieved July 7, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Overview of the number space. ( Memento from May 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (number range for the public telephone network) - Federal Network Agency
  11. ↑ Order 26/2013 of July 31, 2013 (Official Gazette 14/2013)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF file). Federal Network Agency, July 25, 2013@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.bundesnetzagentur.de  
  12. ↑ Switch off mailbox! babel.de, May 17, 2005, accessed June 3, 2011