Preliminary figures for the first half of 2018: Telefónica Deutschland increases profitability and grows thanks to increasing contract customer base

Very good progress was made on the modernisation of the network infrastructure in the first half of the year; the integration of the Telefónica Deutschland and E-Plus networks is moving towards the finish line. In ever more cities like Munich, Stuttgart, Halle, Braunschweig and Potsdam, it is becoming clear that the consolidated network is equal to the competition. At the same time, the company is laying the foundation for the network of the future: Mobile tower sites are being connected with fibre optic cables as part of a cooperation agreed this month with NGN Fiber Network KG, in order to improve the performance of LTE masts and prepare sites for use in a future 5G infrastructure. The company has opted for partnerships here in order to accelerate the network expansion as much as possible. There was a positive signal for network expansion in Germany from the world of politics a few weeks ago: Federal and state governments, leading municipal associations and industry joined together to make an ambitious declaration of intent to eradicate areas without broadband coverage in Germany. In return, the government has agreed to offer better payment conditions for frequency allocations and offered the prospect of a funding programme for mobile communications as well as rules for the upcoming allocation of 5G frequencies that are more supportive of investments.