Chemnitz (Saxony) – There is no connection under their numbers: in a central Saxon community, the majority of the population has been cut off from the cell phone network for months!
In Wechselburg, north of Chemnitz, there are many people who are ready to change jobs. Because with the phone provider “Vodafone”, the lines are cut around the clock.
With many cell phones, even an emergency call does not work
“There are no buses stopping here anymore, the Sparkasse closed and then they cut off our phones, even though we’ve been customers for nearly 20 years,” groans Wolfgang Göhler in the Alt-zschillen district of Wechselburg. “In the end, it has always been said that we want to do more for rural people.”
Ovi Funch, 61, is also furious: “I haven’t had a signal since January. When I had contractions a few weeks ago and wanted to call 911, it didn’t work.” Katherine Bahlke, 58, relies on her cell phone to work: “I work in nursing and I have to get there.”
This portable radio mast on a hill near Wechselburg should ensure a fresh reception
They repeatedly asked for help from Vodafone. But nothing has happened since the beginning of the year. When I followed the telephone giant BILD, it suddenly all happened very quickly: “We are going to turn on a portable radio mast there tomorrow evening,” explains speaker Volker Bettendorf (58).
The inhabitants of a Saxon town are explicitly asked to apologize. Various unfortunate circumstances could have caused the radio to puncture.
The waves from this wireless mast in Motscherodh, one of the counties of Witchellburg to the west, do not reach many residents of Witchellburg.
At the end of 2021, a former radio mast at a former school had to be dismantled after the district office gave notice. Then, suddenly there was no free mobile phone, for example because many were needed in the Ahar Valley flood area.
However, the region no longer wanted to be left reeling in the future: “The portable mast will remain in place until a new fixed mast is installed at the end of 2023,” Bettendorf promised.
