These are clear announcements from Germany’s head of Telekom: Competition and rivalry are actually welcome, and cooperation is also possible. When it comes to mobile communications, however, Srini Gopalan hardly gives a good hair to 1&1 and Vodafone.
When the bosses of the major German providers for mobile communications, Internet and Co. express themselves about the industry and competitors, clear words are often used to put their own strategy in a better light. Vodafone hands out against o2, o2 against Telekom and vice versa. In this case the head of Germany at Telekom has taken on two competitors at the same time: Srini Gopalan hardly gives a good hair to 1&1 and Vodafone.
Telekom: Germany boss finds clear words for Vodafone and 1&1
Asked about Vodafone the manager shows the competition their mistakes. The Düsseldorf-based company has recently started using 5G in standalone operation, while Telekom continues to use DSS. 4G and 5G share a frequency range, smartphones transmit in the network that is currently available.
For Gopalan, this is the best solution, because instead of only enabling a few customers to achieve top speeds, it would be possible to achieve an increase in performance for many people, albeit a smaller one. “Millions of people are already benefiting from this in our network. Technologically, we could also offer 5G standalones. but we build our network according to the needs of the customers and not according to the needs of our PR department“, so Gopalan (source: t-online).
It is no less clear at 1&1: The mobile phone provider wants to become the fourth German network provider. The Telekom boss is obviously looking forward to that, he has no problem with competition. The current situation is different. National roaming, i.e. using the mobile phone networks of Telekom, Telefónica/o2 and Vodafone through other providers such as 1&1, he describes as “free riding”. 1&1 does not specifically name Gopalan, but the announcement is clear. 1&1 must deliver now.
No matter which network, with a cheap smartphone you won’t go wrong with Telekom, o2 or Vodafone:
Telekom wants to invest further
The top manager also commented on Telekom’s future plans in Germany. This is what you want, for example, when it comes to fiber optic expansion in the future no longer rush after the need, but ensure high bandwidths, even if they are not booked immediately. “They don’t want to live in a place where they’re locked out of new technology because they don’t have the bandwidth,” Gopalan said.