O2 remains optimistic despite loss of 1&1 customers

Although around ten million cell phone customers will leave the O2 network in the next few years, company boss Markus Haas sees the mobile operator on the upswing. "We will grow over the next three years, even without 1&1," said the manager on Tuesday evening on the sidelines of the MWC mobile communications trade fair in Barcelona.

The telecommunications group 1&1 has been a kind of major customer of the Munich-based company to date: 1&1's contract customers are connected to O2's antennas in the vast majority of areas in Germany, for which the Montabaur-based company pays money. However, from July or October, 1&1 will be switching to Vodafone for so-called national roaming.

To do this, 1&1 cell phone users must be transferred from one network to the other, which is also known as migration. This is technically complex and therefore a lengthy process that will take place gradually and may take until the end of 2026 or even longer. The more numbers are rebooked, the greater the loss of revenue for O2. Haas has now said that these losses are manageable and will be more than compensated for by new users and efficiency gains.

For years, the O2 network was considered the number three among the three established German network operators. However, after massive investments in network expansion, coverage improved. O2 has now largely caught up with the competition.