The Bundeskartellamt, Germany's competition authority, has issued a preliminary legal assessment regarding Vodafone Group, Vodafone GmbH, and Vantage Towers AG, suspecting them of impeding 1&1's entry into the mobile market. The authority highlights significant delays in the provision of antenna sites that were contractually agreed upon in 2021, which are crucial for 1&1 to establish its own mobile network.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt, stated that the delays are considered an anti-competitive impediment to 1&1's market entry as a fourth network operator. The authority is contemplating using its powers to enforce the provision of the sites that have not yet been made available, as the delays could have been avoided under competition law.

Vantage Towers, which was formerly part of Vodafone's radio mast division, has been slow in fulfilling its agreement with 1&1 to co-use antenna sites. Despite an agreement to provide a significant number of sites, 1&1 has only been able to access a small fraction of them, while Vodafone has expanded its own network significantly, including upgrades to 5G.

The Bundeskartellamt's preliminary assessment indicates that the delays have severely hindered 1&1's ability to compete in the market. The authority believes that Vodafone and Vantage Towers could have taken measures to avoid these delays, such as reallocating resources or focusing 5G upgrades on different sites.

Negotiations between the Bundeskartellamt and Vodafone regarding commitments to address these competition concerns have not yielded satisfactory results, leading the authority to consider declaring the conduct anti-competitive and imposing obligations on the companies to provide the necessary sites within three years. A final decision is expected by mid-2025.