Vodafone suffers setback in dispute with 1&1 over mobile networks

Vodafone has suffered a legal setback in its dispute with rival 1&1. The Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court rejected the mobile operator’s emergency application, according to the court in response to a dpa inquiry.

Vodafone had gone to court last autumn to challenge allegations of market abuse. It sought to have the Federal Cartel Office declared biased and conflicted, a move that could have improved Vodafone’s position in its dispute with 1&1. The court’s decision means Vodafone cannot obtain the preventive legal protection it requested before the authority issues a decision.

The separate proceedings in Bonn concern 1&1’s attempt to build its own mobile network. The company acquired its first mobile frequencies in 2019 and later began constructing a network intended to compete with Deutsche Telekom, O2 and Vodafone. By early 2023, however, 1&1 had only five operating mobile sites instead of the 1,000 required under a government expansion obligation.

Much of the delay involved infrastructure operator Vantage Towers, which supplied 1&1 with far fewer sites than its contract required. Vantage Towers was spun off from Vodafone’s former radio-tower division, and Vodafone remained its largest shareholder. 1&1 suspected that Vodafone had influenced Vantage Towers to restrict access for the competitor, allegations Vodafone and Vantage Towers denied.

The Federal Cartel Office opened a market-abuse case in 2023. In spring 2025, its president, Andreas Mundt, said the delayed provision of sites appeared to constitute an unlawful restriction of 1&1. Vodafone then sought to block a final ruling by challenging the authority’s impartiality. A Vodafone spokesman said the court had not decided the bias question itself, but had rejected only the unusual attempt to secure legal protection before the cartel authority’s decision.

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the delayed provision of sites should be considered an unlawful obstruction of 1&1