Germany’s Federal Network Agency Calls on Citizens to Participate in Nationwide Mobile Network Testing Week
The Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) is urging citizens to take part in the first nationwide mobile network testing week, starting on Monday. The agency aims to gather more data on network availability and identify the last remaining gaps in the network.
“We want to collect more data on network availability and identify the last remaining gaps in the network” said Federal Network Agency President Klaus Müller in an interview with the Funke-Mediengruppe. “The more people participate, the better we can determine where the network is not sufficient.” To participate, citizens must download the Breitbandmessung/Funkloch-App from the Federal Network Agency.
If gaps in the network, which should have been closed by now, are found, network operators could face significant fines, Müller warned, adding that such penalties could reach into the millions. However, the agency’s approach is not to impose penalties immediately, but rather to engage in dialogue with the operators first, as it is generally unpleasant for them to be confronted with the issue.
This is the third time the Federal Network Agency has conducted a mobile network testing week, following a pilot in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate in 2019 and an expansion to the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in 2020. This year, the event will be held nationwide for the first time. The app has been downloaded nearly a million times since its release in 2018 and the agency is hoping for a significant increase in participation this year. “We welcome every single participant, but many more reports would be helpful” Müller said, adding that the agency had collected several million data points during the testing weeks in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia last year.