Despite efforts being made by mobile phone operators in Germany to close the gaps, patchy signal, stuttering internet and dead grey zones still plague residents of the federal republic, according to a new survey. 

53 percent of mobile users regularly experience disrupted connections

A representative survey by comparison site Verivox found that 53 percent of mobile phone users in Germany have to deal with network problems or interrupted connections “often” or “very often”. 

The survey respondents said that problems were particularly apparent on trains and autobahns in Germany, where as many as 62 percent of users said they experienced frequent network issues. 

Providers are supposed to be working towards providing 100 megabits per second download speeds along all motorways and major train lines in Germany by the end of 2022 - with the exception of areas where they are unable to obtain land for cellular towers, for instance inside national parks - but recent data shows they still have a long way to go. 

Traffic routes the “Achilles’ heel” of German mobile network

According to a report from the Federal Network Agency, based on data from January, coverage along the autobahns is somewhere between 93 and 99 percent, and only 90 to 96 percent on the most important routes. On major train routes, the coverage is somewhere between 92 and 97 percent. 

Jens-Uwe Theumer, vice president of telecommunications at Verivox, described traffic routes as “the Achilles’ heel of the German mobile network. Even in 2022, many kilometres of the rail and road network still have gaps in coverage, especially in sparsely populated rural areas.” 

Deutsche Telekom announced earlier this year that it was cooperating with its competitors Vodafone and Telefónica (O2) to share infrastructure and improve coverage for customers of all three networks.