Mobile network specialist Mugler invests in vocational training

Mugler has plans for its headquarters in Oberlungwitz. But it lacks a suitable site.

By Markus Pfeifer

Strengthening vocational training: investment and recruitment

Oberlungwitz. Mugler, the Oberlungwitz-based mobile network infrastructure specialist and partner to major mobile network operators, continues to grow. But achieving that growth amid a shortage of skilled workers requires considerable effort. The company has therefore further strengthened its vocational training programme, including substantial investment in facilities and equipment at its E-Lab training workshop and the recruitment of a second instructor. Executive Board member Hartmut Fiedler says: “We have doubled our training capacity and are already recruiting for the next apprenticeship year.”

Mugler is currently training 30 skilled professionals of the future. Technical interest, practical aptitude and motivation are key. If an applicant demonstrates all three, the company is willing to overlook the occasional poor grade. Every apprentice who successfully completes their training at the company can be offered an employment contract with Mugler, Fiedler adds.

Challenges and expansion plans

There will be plenty of work in the mobile communications sector over the coming years, whether introducing new wireless standards or developing new applications. In recent years, the company’s workforce has grown to 370 employees. In addition, it has acquired a company whose main focus is fault rectification for a major mobile network operator. Mugler AG also became Mugler SE last year. The public limited company was thus converted into a “Societas Europaea”, or “European Company”. This change is primarily intended to facilitate future business in the European market. “We believe in the European idea,” says founder and Supervisory Board member Albrecht Mugler, who sees considerable potential for further developments and new applications for mobile communications solutions.

Mugler also has plans for expanding its physical facilities. However, capacity at its headquarters in Oberlungwitz, where an extension to the logistics hall is planned, will soon be exhausted. This presents a new challenge. “Neither Oberlungwitz nor Hohenstein-Ernstthal can offer me a suitable site,” says Albrecht Mugler. He criticises the bureaucracy that leads to years of debate over land-use plans, making it impossible to expand business parks quickly. Hartmut Fiedler is also puzzled that Mugler SE’s enquiries in Limbach-Oberfrohna and Meerane were turned down.

The company would like to expand within the region, but if that proves impossible, it will have to do so elsewhere. Its locations in Hanover and Döbeln have already been expanded. Mugler’s technicians, who maintain and upgrade mobile network infrastructure, already spend much of their time on the road. Last year, they visited around 20,000 sites across Germany, out of approximately 80,000 in total. “There are constant changes at these sites. Once 5G is in place, 6G will follow,” says Hartmut Fiedler, looking ahead to the future of mobile communications.

Future-focused technologies and international challenges

The company is also highly active in private campus networks, which use specialised technology to provide high-performance mobile networks within a defined area. These networks offer a wide range of applications, from industrial automation and machine-to-machine communication to agriculture. One advantage is the openness to different technologies in private campus networks – something Fiedler often finds lacking in other areas in Germany. For example, projects that aimed to significantly improve traffic flow using mobile communications have been discontinued. “Cooperation between private companies and the public sector really isn’t working here. There seems to be no appetite for optimisation, and we are falling well behind other countries,” Fiedler says. Albrecht Mugler takes a similar view. If public funding supports huge articulated buses that often run empty while flexible, on-demand taxi services are held back, something is wrong.

How the company is navigating the pandemic

Mugler’s order book has not been a source of concern during the coronavirus pandemic. The bewildering array of protective measures and regulations, however, has been. Different rules across Germany’s federal states, as well as measures introduced at municipal level, have presented recurring challenges. A larger company can handle these, says Hartmut Fiedler. Other businesses, particularly start-ups and small companies, are currently suffering considerable damage or losing opportunities to innovate.

As mobile communications are part of critical infrastructure, special exemptions applied in several areas. The company devoted considerable effort to coronavirus testing for employees. It also organised eight vaccination sessions for its workforce. (mpf)

Conclusion: investing in the future

Through its investments and training initiatives, Mugler demonstrates its readiness to meet future challenges. Despite bureaucratic obstacles and the challenges posed by the pandemic, the company remains committed to growth and innovation to succeed in the international mobile communications market.

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