The head of Munich-based mobile phone operator O2 sees his company on the upswing even though around 10 million mobile phone customers will leave the O2 network in the next few years.
"We will grow over the next three years, even without 1&1," company boss Markus Haas said Tuesday evening on the fringes of the MWC mobile communications trade fair in Barcelona.
He was referring to the telecommunications group 1&1, which has to date been a major customer of O2.
1&1's contract customers are connected to O2's antennas in the vast majority of areas in Germany, for which the German-based company pays money.
However, 1&1 will switch to Vodafone for so-called national roaming starting in either July or October.
To do this, 1&1 mobile 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 number three among the three established German network operators.
However, following massive investment in network expansion, coverage improved. O2 has now largely caught up with the competition.