99% of all homes and holiday properties are covered and 99.7% of populated areas
Vodafone says it completed its expansion in the German Alpine region faster than planned. In July 2022, Vodafone announced 115 construction projects in eight districts in the Alps to expand its network.
Now, nine months after the start, the projects complete, although in the end, 121 construction measures were implemented to make emergency calls easier and to send summit messages faster to enable selfies.
Mobile communications are important in the Alps for safety reasons and traffic in the region is growing by 35% annually, primarily driven by smartphone use.
Upgrades and new sites
Vodafone has now eliminated 22 4G dead spots, mainly through constructing new radio sites, and deployed 78 5G stations at existing sites. Overall, Vodafone has 416 cell sites in the Alpine region, providing coverage of 99.7% of the populated areas in the districts of Oberallgäu, Ostallgäu, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bad Tölz- Wolfratshausen, Miesbach, Rosenheim, Traunstein and Berchtesgadener Land.
Vodafone reaches more than 99% of households and holiday homes in the Alps but will continue its expansion “offensive” [translated from the German]. By the end of 2023, Vodafone will build 15 more “mobile data highways” including in Tittmoning (Traunstein District), Marktschellenberg and Teisendorf (Berchtesgadener Land District) and Pforzen (Ostallgäu District).
Expansion continues
Expanding the network in the Alps is a particular challenge due to the landscape and so a balance must be struck between nature conservation and mobile phone coverage. The stations are designed to blend into the landscape as harmoniously as possible with the Funkturm-Gesellschaft Vantage Towers working with municipalities, landlords and lessors.