There are still lte gaps on german railroad lines
Fast LTE mobile communications along railroad lines are not available everywhere in germany. Nationwide is about every 20. Kilometers of railroad line not covered with fast 4G mobile internet (LTE).
This is the result of an answer from the federal ministry of transport to an FDP inquiry, which was made available to the deutsche presse-agentur. Accordingly, a good 2040 of around 40,600 kilometers of rail network are affected. This corresponds to a rate of about five percent.
Rhineland-palatinate is the worst performer in a national comparison, with around one in 10 people having no access to mobile communications. Kilometers not covered by high-speed mobile communications – followed by baden-wurttemberg and saxony. On the other hand, train passengers in berlin, hamburg and bremen can surf the web without any problems; according to the authorities, coverage there is 100 percent. In schleswig-holstein, only one in 80 people is a teacher. Kilometers not supplied with high-speed mobile communications.
Interrupted phone calls and surfing at snail’s pace annoy many rail passengers, said FDP member of parliament torsten herbst. The figures are an "absolute indictment" of digitization in germany and of a customer-friendly railroad.
The federal ministry of transport also sees a responsibility for rail operators and railroad companies. The railway companies are required to ensure reliable coverage on the trains, for example by installing repeaters, he said.
"The connection on the train can only be as good as it is on the ground at the respective section of track. It is the task of the mobile network operators to ensure seamless network coverage along the rails," emphasized a spokesperson for deutsche bahn.
In principle, the network operators are supposed to ensure nationwide coverage of mobile communications in germany. In june, however, the federal government announced its intention to spend 1.1 billion euros on the construction of radio masts in order to close radio gaps, especially in rural areas. Technical renovations in zugen to be supported with 150 million euros. The goal is to stop mobile radio from storing the train radio, says the railroad spokesman. For this, railroad radios are now to be partly exchanged or upgraded.
