Frankfurt (Reuters) - 1&1 wants to step up the pace in building its own mobile network.

"We will probably have 1350 radio masts by the end of the quarter," said CEO Ralph Dommermuth on Monday evening at the International Club of Frankfurt Business Journalists (ICFW). In addition, there would be 750 rental contracts for further locations, for example on rooftops, where antennas are to be successively erected. The company had targeted 1000 sites for the end of 2023.

So far, however, only a fraction of the radio masts erected are actually connected to the network: Only 100 masts are currently operational, said Dommermuth, who is also the CEO and main shareholder of 1&1's parent company United Internet. Connecting the masts to the fiber optic network is the bottleneck. Nevertheless, he is sticking to his goal of having around 12,600 radio masts by 2030. 1&1 is facing a fine from the Federal Network Agency due to the slow start to the network rollout.

The company officially launched its own mobile network two months ago. However, due to a lack of coverage with its own radio masts, the company is dependent on so-called national roaming. This means that customers use the infrastructure of the competition wherever 1&1 does not offer its own network. This is still Telefonica Deutschland. Last summer, however, 1&1 gave the O2 parent company the boot due to ongoing disputes and announced a switch to Vodafone.

At the ICFW event, Dommermuth also gave an outlook on the time after his retirement. He said he wanted to fundamentally restructure the Group before handing over the reins. "The aim is to hand over a company that is easier to manage," said the entrepreneur. There are several options for this. For example, subsidiaries could be made independent or the holding company could be downsized. However, he does not yet have a timetable for restructuring the Group or withdrawing from it.

In addition to United Internet, the mobile communications provider 1&1 and the webhosting provider Ionos are currently listed on the stock exchange. United Internet holds a majority stake in both companies.

(Report by Hakan Ersen. Edited by Philipp Krach. If you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).)