According to a VDMA member survey , a majority of 69% of machine and plant manufacturers are planning to equip their products with a 5G interface. 35% are considering introducing their own campus network. A further 21% are still undecided. Just under half of all companies are looking to cooperate with a network operator, while only a small percentage prefer to set up their own 5G network infrastructure.

With regard to the outstanding allocation of frequencies , the association urges the federal government to hurry up and provide more transparency about the costs involved. The German Federal Ministry of Finance is currently still charging five times as much as the German Federal Network Agency’s draft fee. “The fee structure must not lead to the creation of an entry barrier in 5G for innovative SMEs , which would hamper the innovative strength of local value chains and Germany as a business location,” says Hartmut Rauen, Deputy Managing Director of the VDMA.