The Federal Network Agency (german: Bundesnetzagentur or ) is the German regulatory office for electricity, gas, telecommunications, post and railway markets. It is a federal agency of the

Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (german: Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz, ), abbreviated BMWK (was BMWi), is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. It was previously known as ...

and headquartered in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

, Germany.

Responsibilities

Telecommunications

In telecommunications, the agency has the authority over the German telephone numbering plan and other technical number assignments. It also regulates the telecommunication market, including termination fees and open access to subscriber lines and licenses telephone companies. In

radio communications Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

, the Agency manages the

radio frequency spectrum Radio frequency (RF) is the oscillation rate of an alternating electric current or voltage or of a magnetic, electric or electromagnetic field or mechanical system in the frequency range from around to around . This is roughly between the upper ...

, licenses broadcasting transmitters and detects

radio interference Electromagnetic interference (EMI), also called radio-frequency interference (RFI) when in the radio frequency spectrum, is a disturbance generated by an external source that affects an electrical circuit by electromagnetic induction, electrost ...

s. Licensing

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

and

TV station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth ...

s (that is, content providers), however, is the task of

State State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

authorities. It is also a root

certificate authority In cryptography, a certificate authority or certification authority (CA) is an entity that stores, signs, and issues digital certificates. A digital certificate certifies the ownership of a public key by the named subject of the certificate. Thi ...

for qualified signatures according to the German Signature Act.

Postal services

The Agency's responsibility in the post market include the licensing of companies for postal services and the observation of the market. It also regulates the market, assuring non-discriminatory access to some service facilities, such as

PO box A post office box (commonly abbreviated as P.O. box, or also known as a postal box) is a uniquely addressable lockable box located on the premises of a post office. In some regions, particularly in Africa, there is no door to door delivery ...

es.

Electricity and gas

In the electricity and gas market, the Agency is responsible for ensuring non-discriminatory third-party access to networks and regulating the fees. The Agency is not responsible for licensing energy companies. These tasks remain with authorities determined by

law. The ''Bundesnetzagentur'' has the following roles under the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG): * determining the level of financial payment for installations for the generation of electricity from renewable energy sources * monitoring the nationwide EEG equalisation scheme process between the distribution network operators, the transmission system operators and the electricity suppliers * publishing the capacity of the newly installed renewable energy installations (monthly) * conducting the auction process for renewable energy installations.

Railway

In the area of railway traffic, the Federal Network Agency is responsible for ensuring non-discriminatory access to railway infrastructure. This includes monitoring and regulating the train schedules, allocation of railway track slots, access to service facilities, etc. The agency is not responsible for technical supervision and licensing of railway companies. These tasks remain with the Federal Railway Office (, EBA).

History

In the 1990s, the telecommunications and postal services in Germany were

privatized Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

. In 1994, the

Deutsche Bundespost The Deutsche Bundespost (German federal post office) was a German state-run postal service and telecommunications business founded in 1947. It was initially the second largest federal employer during its time. After staff reductions in the 19 ...

, was privatised and split into

Deutsche Post The Deutsche Post AG, operating under the trade name Deutsche Post DHL Group, is a German multinational package delivery and supply chain management company headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It is one of the world's largest courier companies. ...

and Deutsche Telekom, which remained under the supervision of the Federal Office for Post and Telecommunications (, BAPT). When the market was finally opened to competitors on 1 January 1998, the Regulatory Authority for Telecommunications and Posts (, ) was established, superseding the Federal Office as the supervisor for posts and telecommunications. When the government decided to improve competition for the energy and railway markets as of 13 July 2005 and 1 January 2006, it found that the Regulatory Authority's expertise in enabling open access to telecommunication networks would also be useful in these infrastructure markets. To reflect these new competences, the authority was renamed to Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Posts and Railway (, ).

Governance

Presidents

* Klaus-Dieter Scheurle (1998–2000) * Matthias Kurth (2001–2012) * Jochen Homann (2012–2022) * Klaus Müller (2022–present)

Advisory Council

The Advisory Council consists of 16 members of the German

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Common ...

and 16 representatives of the German Bundesrat; the Bundesrat representatives must be members or political representatives of the government of a federal state. The members and deputy members of the Advisory Council are appointed by the federal government upon the proposal of the German Bundestag and the German Bundesrat.

References

{{Authority control Communications authorities Communications in Germany Electric power in Germany Electricity authorities Federal authorities in Bonn German federal agencies Government railway authorities Rail transport in Germany Regulation in Germany Government agencies established in 1998 1998 establishments in Germany