BRUSSELS À JOUR – Rockin‘ Around the Christmas Tree
19 December 2024
Drillisch Netz AG and 1&1 Versatel Deutschland GmbH entered into a long-term partnership with Rakuten Symphony Singapore Pte. Ltd. (Rakuten) to build the fourth mobile network in Germany. Drillisch Netz AG and 1&1 Versatel Deutschland GmbH are affiliates of 1&1 AG (1&1). Rakuten Symphony Singapore is a subsidiary of the listed Japanese Rakuten Group, Inc.
Together with general contractor Rakuten, 1&1 will build Europe's first fully virtualised mobile network based on innovative OpenRAN technology and a cloud-based multi-vendor network architecture. Rakuten will assume the responsibility for the planning, deployment and operation of 1&1's 5G mobile network, with the exception of certain sub-components (e.g., antenna sites/passive network infrastructure, technical field service and transport network) contributed by other partners of 1&1 or by 1&1 Versatel.
The long-term partnership with Rakuten marks another key milestone on 1&1's path to become the fourth mobile network operator in Germany.
Hengeler Mueller has been advising 1&1 comprehensively on the building of its mobile network since the beginning of the preparations for the 2019 spectrum auction in all areas of contract drafting, regulation, real estate, litigation, antitrust, corporate, employment, intellectual property and capital markets law.
The team, acting on this latest milestone, is led by partners Katharina Hesse (M&A/Regulatory, Düsseldorf) and Sebastian Schneider (M&A) and includes partners Daniela Favoccia, Lucina Berger (both M&A/Corporate), Thomas Lang (Real Estate/M&A), Frank Burmeister (M&A), Johannes Tieves (Financing) (all Frankfurt), Christian Möller (M&A), Dirk Uwer (Regulatory), Wolfgang Kellenter (IP/IT) and Carl-Philipp Eberlein (Insurance) (all Düsseldorf), counsel Patrick Wilkening (IP/IT, Düsseldorf), Johannes Baumann (M&A) and Christian Häußer (Employment) (both Frankfurt) as well as associates Marika Öry, Jan Häller, Moritz Weidemann, Maximilian Kunzelmann (all Frankfurt), Jesco Lindner, Maxi Ludwig, Daniel Roggenkemper (all M&A), Michael Schramm (Regulatory), Marvin Geisler (Insurance) (all Düsseldorf).
