Germany’s three major operators are banding together to improve network coverage and combat dead zones throughout the country. Deutsche Telekom (DT), Telefónica Deutschland, and Vodafone announced that the collaboration will focus on rural areas, roads, rail, and inland waterway transportation routes.

The group claims the effort, which involves the installation and operation of 6,000 new cell sites, will fulfill a condition that the operators agreed to as part of the country’s recent 5G spectrum auction. Executives bemoaned the high costs of the 5G spectrum auction, which totaled $7.4 billion for 420 megahertz of spectrum, but the collaborative effort should help the trio of companies reduce costs by sharing some infrastructure and operational requirements.

In June, operator executives said the spectrum costs would delay and limit their ability to invest in 5G network deployments, but those concerns haven’t materialized. Within the span of two weeks in July, DT and Vodafone Germany activated 5G services in limited areas across the country.

German telecom operators had similar grievances in 2000, following the auction of spectrum licenses to support 3G services. Operators ended up bidding nearly $43 billion for those licenses.

As for the plans to combat Germany's dead zones, the country's incumbent operators also invited 1&1 Drillisch, a new player that bid $1.2 billion during the spectrum auction to become a fourth nationwide operator, to join the effort. The operators said 1&1 Drillisch will have to take on an equal share of the expansion projects to join the partnership.

While the operators are making moves to meet regulatory requirements, the trio also reiterated their displeasure with the conditions, calling them “excessive” and not in line with applicable legislation.

“Our common goal is to eliminate coverage gaps in the mobile network as soon as possible,” said Dirk Wössner, managing director at DT, in a prepared statement. “Sharing infrastructure is nothing new for us. Sharing it at this scale, however, is a major step in the right direction.”

Telefónica Deutschland CEO Markus Haas said the pooling of resources will put Germany in an ideal position for the next decade. “We must join forces if we are to consolidate Germany’s position as a leading business location that is ready to take on future challenges,” he said in a prepared statement.

Vodafone Deutschland CEO Hannes Ametsreiter said hundreds of thousands of people in Germany will benefit from the shared infrastructure partnership. “Today, we are forging an alliance to combat dead spots and increase mobile communications coverage even in areas where it is not profitable,” he said in a prepared statement.

The operators said further details on the alliance will be formally agreed to in the next few months and they expect network expansion planning to get underway soon after.