Deutsche Telekom announced a limited rollout of 5G services in Germany on Wednesday, targeting urban smartphone users.
Existing 5G trials will be opened up to public use in the German capital Berlin and in Bonn, where Deutsche Telekom is headquartered, with four more cities — Darmstadt, Hamburg, Leipzig, and Munich — to follow this year.
By the end of 2020, 20 German cities will have 5G coverage. Deutsche Telekom bid 2.17 billion euros or $2.45 billion for 130 MHz of the 420 MHz of 5G spectrum allocated last month in Germany’s longest-ever auction of mobile frequencies.
Deutsche Telekom will be spending 5 billion euros or $5.6 billion this year for building out its 5G network infrastructure, technology chief Claudia Nemat said.
Deutsche Telekom is making 5G-enabled devices available to customers. It will bring 300 5G antennas into service in more than 100 locations this year, using its 3.5 GHz spectrum that is most suited to urban coverage.
Deutsche Telekom will build 2,000 new masts per year, bringing the total to 36,000 by the end of 2021.
“Nearly three-quarters of our antenna locations in Germany are connected with optical fiber – we’re now building on that,” said Dirk Wossner, managing director, Telekom Deutschland, said.
Deutsche Telekom demanded that it needs a clear regulatory framework and pragmatism from the authorities – particularly when it comes to questions regarding regional spectrum, local roaming, allocation of the auction proceeds, and the approval procedures.
“5G is the future. But at the same time, we know we still have to do our homework in our existing network, which is why the LTE build-out is still a major focus. We plan to build around 2,000 new mobile base stations this year alone,” Dirk Wossner said.
Deutsche Telekom is working on the 5G network with Osram and automotive supplier ZF.
Deutsche Telekom started selling Samsung Galaxy S10 5G smartphone in Telekom Shops now. The Samsung Galaxy S10 5G is priced at 899.95 euros in the Magenta Mobil XL Special rate plan. Customers can also trade in their old smartphones in exchange for a 200 euros credit.
Deutsche Telekom is offering an early adopter discount of 100 euros. Deutsche Telekom 5G services will cost 84.95 euros per month for unlimited surfing. Customers can use Deutsche Telekom’s LTE network and 5G in future.
The HTC 5G Hub hotspot can connect up to 20 devices with the network. Peak speeds per user can reach up to 1 GBit/s. The HTC device costs 555.55 euros in the Magenta Mobil Speedbox XL rate plan. The data plan costs 74.95 euros per month.
Image: Michael Hagspihl, director Consumer Telekom Deutschland; Claudia Nemat, board member for Technology and Innovation; and Dirk Wossner, MD of Telekom Deutschland Germany.
