Uplink network

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UPLINK Network GmbH

logo
legal form GmbH
founding 2013
Seat Düsseldorf (company headquarters) and Berlin (company headquarters ), Germany
management Christian Schwarz-Schilling , Chairman of the Company Advisory Board

Michael Radomski, Managing Director Thomas Weiner, Managing Director Florian Ihlow, Managing Director

Branch Telecommunications
data, image and sound transmission
Website uplink-network.de

The uplink Network GmbH (proper spelling UPLINK Network GmbH) based in Dusseldorf is a provider of telecommunications services to broadcasters.

The company was founded due to a change in the Telecommunications Act in 2012, which for the first time opened up the possibility for radio broadcasters to outsource their technical operations to independent service providers.

The company's core business is the operation of broadcasting networks . The most important customers are private radio broadcasters such as bigFM , RPR1 , 94.3 rs2 , Radio Schleswig-Holstein , Radio PSR , Energy Sachsen , radio NRW or Radio Bob , public broadcasters such as Deutschlandradio , RBB and WDR, but also state media authorities such as the Thuringian State Media Authority . In mid-2020, Uplink will operate around 750 VHF frequencies at almost 500 locations across Germany, which corresponds to a market share of around 50% among private operators. With the exception of the MDR , Uplink is responsible for all broadcasters (Deutschlandradio, NDR Mecklenburg-Vorpommern , RBB and SR ) that are not operated by the respective state authorities' own staff (including SWR , BR , HR ). In June 2020 the company received a major order from WDR and MDR to set up DAB + antennas in various federal states.

Re-regulation of the market for VHF broadcasting

Until 2012, the operation of VHF radio systems was practically only reserved for public broadcasters for their own supply and for broadcasting the programs of private radio broadcasters of Media Broadcast , a successor company of the Deutsche Bundespost . The frequency assignments of the Federal Network Agency required by telecommunications law for the technical operation of VHF frequencies were also held exclusively by Media Broadcast for its customers until December 31, 2015.

As a result of an amendment to the Telecommunications Act in 2012, the Federal Network Agency began regulating the market from 2014 onwards . a. defined the existing antenna systems from the time of the Federal Post Office as an infrastructure with no alternative and ordered the possibility of shared use for new providers. At the same time, on January 1, 2016, alternative providers (and also operators) could apply for frequency assignments for the first time, which made practical market access possible for third parties for the first time.

Uplink Network, under the direction of the former Post Minister Christian Schwarz-Schilling, is committed to the opening of the market and on July 1, 2015, for the first time, enforced the joint use of a VHF antenna at the broadcasting station in Saalfeld (Saale) . In addition, there are two other competitors, Divicon Media Holding GmbH in Leipzig and Senderetzbetrieb Baden-Württemberg GmbH in Stuttgart, which together with a few other small private operators (especially in Bavaria and Lower Saxony) together achieve a similarly large market share as the Uplink Network . The liberalization of this market is probably the opening of the last telecommunications monopoly in Germany, after all other markets (especially through the privatization of Telekom ) have already been opened.

As a result of the market development, the previous monopoly Media Broadcast announced in February 2017 that it would give up its FM division and sold the antenna and transmitter infrastructure in December 2017. In August 2017, the ARD stations Deutschlandradio , RBB , NDR and Saarländischer Rundfunk announced that they would switch from Media Broadcast to Uplink Network with 14 channels and a total of 352 FM frequencies in mid-2018 as a result of a Europe-wide tender .

Dispute over the VHF antennas and threat of shutdown

On February 15, 2017, Media Broadcast announced that it wanted to withdraw from the FM business, allegedly because of the rejection of the requested pricing by the Federal Network Agency. In the course of 2017, the VHF antennas necessary for broadcasting almost all VHF programs were offered for sale. This sale and the implementation of a public auction at the end of the sale process led to increased criticism from various bodies, to complaints to the Federal Cartel Office about the process and to the withdrawal of uplink from the current auction. In January 2018 it became known that in addition to around 25 smaller radio broadcasters, essentially five financial investors had bought around 70% of all VHF antennas. These financial investors were u. a. around Axel C. Krieger , a former CFO of the Media Broadcast parent company freenet , as well as other people outside the market such as B. the entrepreneur Axel Sartingen . They were accused by the advisory board of the Federal Network Agency of having bought the VHF antennas only to circumvent the existing regulation and want to enforce massive price increases.

When the network operators Uplink and Divicon rejected the requested prices for the use of FM frequencies as artificially excessive, the managing director of Media Broadcast, Wolfgang Breuer, publicly threatened to shut down large parts of the FM broadcasting in Germany. This threat was followed by far-reaching political and regulatory reactions, as large parts of public radio, including Deutschlandradio , Mitteldeutsche Rundfunk , RBB and NDR , were affected. The Thuringian state media secretary Malte Krückels called the process "unacceptable" and publicly questioned the seriousness of the company Media Broadcast. The German Federation of Trade Unions North announced that a profit-oriented company was playing poker for high prices and blatantly threatened to turn off the juice from public radio providers and other broadcasters. "Society cannot accept this brazen business policy and restriction of information access." The 30 largest radio stations jointly wrote a letter to the Federal Minister of Economics , in which they pointed out that "broadcasting in Germany has become a plaything for private financial investors". The former Federal Post Minister and Chairman of the Advisory Board of Uplink, Christian Schwarz-Schilling , in turn asked the chairman of the supervisory board of the parent company freenet AG , Helmut Thoma , to "put a stop to the hustle and bustle" , who subsequently met the former Federal Minister of Economics and the supervisory board the Media Broadcast, Wolfgang Clement , delivered a controversial correspondence with Schwarz-Schilling about the threat of the VHF switch off and defended the behavior of the Media Broadcast.

As a result, the Federal Cartel Office intervened with the information that selling the VHF antennas should not lead to an increase in previous prices. The Federal Network Agency also announced that it was looking into regulating the new antenna owners. This was followed by an intensive discussion of the regulatory authority, which ultimately led to the moderation of price negotiations between the network operators and the investors, which was headed by the former Chancellery Minister Friedrich Bohl . In July 2018, the Federal Network Agency finally announced an agreement, which was largely based on a compromise between all parties involved.

Products and services

Uplink is primarily aimed at private broadcasters, but also operates video lines and other decentralized IT infrastructures.

  • FM transmitter network operation offers companies that have a media license to operate a radio program the entire service they need to broadcast their content via appropriate transmitters on radio towers and masts.
  • Signal feed operation enables the transmission of audio and video signals with particularly high quality over long distances, e.g. B. to connect broadcasting houses or similar facilities.
  • The company has announced that it will also start operating digital radio broadcasting via DAB + .
  • Uplink implements mobile radio solutions under the product name " Funktechnik ". a. in critical areas of application (e.g. blasting).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Company website uplink-network.de
  2. ↑ Imprint company website uplink-network.de
  3. ↑ VHF antenna dispute: agreement enables quick changeover of VHF stations. Retrieved on July 17, 2018 (German).
  4. ↑ Gregory Lipinski: Megadeal in the radio market: ARD broadcasters award uplink contract for broadcast network operation ›Meedia. August 22, 2017. Retrieved August 22, 2017 .
  5. ↑ Michael Fuhr: Uplink: Major order for DAB + antenna construction for ARD. Retrieved June 22, 2020 .
  6. ↑ New possibilities for private radio after the TKG amendment ( Memento of the original from July 28, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. vprt.de @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.vprt.de
  7. ↑ Federal Network Agency regulates VHF antenna use radiowoche.de
  8. ↑ Ex-post minister and ex-RMS boss mix the FM market on wuv.de.
  9. ↑ Thüringer Landesmedienanstalt and Uplink Network GmbH set for the first time shared use of a VHF antenna by radioszene.de
  10. ↑ Home - DIVICON MEDIA. Retrieved July 28, 2017 .
  11. ^ Transmitter network operation Baden-Württemberg GmbH. Retrieved July 28, 2017 .
  12. ↑ Uplink: An antenna for business - WELT. Retrieved July 28, 2017 .
  13. ↑ Uplink: An antenna for business - WELT. Welt am Sonntag, June 19, 2017, accessed July 22, 2017 .
  14. ↑ Gregory Lipinski: Media Broadcast before antenna sale: Freenet subsidiary in Cologne prepares online auction ›Meedia. June 28, 2017. Retrieved July 22, 2017 .
  15. ↑ ARD broadcasting network will be operated almost entirely by Uplink in 2018 | RADIO SCENE. Retrieved on August 22, 2017 (German).
  16. ↑ heise online: After the regulatory decision: Media Broadcast repels FM business. Retrieved on July 13, 2018 (German).
  17. ↑ High-Noon on the radio market: Freenet subsidiary Media Broadcast brings VHF antennas under the hammer ›Meedia. Retrieved July 13, 2018 .
  18. ↑ Michael Fuhr: Uplink Network pulls out of eAuction for VHF systems . ( teltarif.de [accessed on July 13, 2018]).
  19. ↑ Milaco GmbH is said to have bought FM antennas from Media Broadcast. Retrieved on July 13, 2018 (German).
  20. ↑ Michael Fuhr: New antenna rental companies: price increases for FM . ( teltarif.de [accessed on July 13, 2018]).
  21. ↑ FM radios before the end? Advisory board of the network agency fears for the future of the antenna market ›Meedia. Retrieved July 13, 2018 .
  22. ↑ VHF radio: Service providers threaten many radio stations with switching off . ( handelsblatt.com [accessed July 13, 2018]).
  23. ^ Andreas Albert: NDR, MDR, Deutschlandradio: FM operator threatens broadcasters with shutdown . In: Spiegel Online . April 6, 2018 ( spiegel.de [accessed July 13, 2018]).
  24. ↑ Thuringian State Chancellery: 96-2018 VHF must stay on the air - State Secretary for Media Krückels: Threat of shutdown remains unacceptable. April 10, 2018, accessed July 13, 2018 .
  25. ↑ dpa: Radio stations threatened to be switched off: Dispute over FM reception: DGB Nord is outraged | shz.de . In: shz . ( shz.de [accessed on July 13, 2018]).
  26. ↑ Klaus Raab: VHF dispute: The battle for the antenna . In: Spiegel Online . April 20, 2018 ( spiegel.de [accessed July 13, 2018]).
  27. ↑ Trouble about threatened VHF blackout: Ex-Post Minister Schwarz-Schilling grapples with Freenet supervisory board chairman Helmut Thoma ›Meedia. Retrieved July 13, 2018 .
  28. ^ Zoff about threatened VHF blackout: Now ex-economics minister Wolfgang Clement hooks up ›Meedia. Retrieved July 13, 2018 .
  29. ↑ UKW-Aus: Bundeskartellamt has solution for antenna dispute . ( digitalfernsehen.de [accessed on July 13, 2018]).
  30. ↑ Regulation: Federal Network Agency intervenes in the UKW chaos - Golem.de . ( golem.de [accessed on July 13, 2018]).
  31. ↑ Tom Sprenger: VHF antenna dispute: Federal Network Agency initiates urgent proceedings . In: radioWOCHE - Current radio news, FM / DAB + news and radio jobs . June 5, 2018 ( radiowoche.de [accessed July 13, 2018]).
  32. ↑ Marlene Halser : Dispute over VHF antennas: Ex-Chancellery head should help . In: The daily newspaper: taz . June 18, 2018, ISSN  0931-9085 ( taz.de [accessed July 13, 2018]).
  33. ↑ Federal Network Agency - Press - Contractual settlement in the antenna dispute. Retrieved July 13, 2018 .
  34. ↑ Broadcasting network operator expects competition from DAB + meinungsbarometer.info to come soon
  35. ↑ INFOSAT Verlag & Werbe GmbH: Great interest in DAB + model test in Schleswig-Holstein. July 2, 2019, accessed July 3, 2019 .
  36. ↑ Corporate video UPLINK radio technology. Retrieved on July 3, 2019 (German).