Deutsche Telekom today revealed that its 5G network has reached over 16 million people in more than 1,000 towns and communities across Germany.
Telekom Deutschland targets to take its 5G network coverage to nearly 40 million people in Germany in mid-July.
“We are bringing 5G to urban and rural areas for half of the German population. We are now reaching this milestone earlier than planned,” said Telekom Deutschland CEO Dirk Wossner in a statement.
Dirk Wossner said its technicians have made over 12,000 antennas fit for 5G. Telekom will have 40,000 antennas fit for 5G by the end of the year. “Deutsche Telekom will also have the best network for 5G.”
Deutsche Telekom uses 15 megahertz (MHz) in the 2.1 gigahertz band for LTE and 5G. Of this, 5 MHz come from the previous 3G spectrum and will be rededicated. In addition, Deutsche Telekom acquired 10 MHz of the current 3G spectrum from another provider. It is also using this spectrum for LTE and 5G.
Deutsche Telekom originally bought this spectrum for use from 2021, but by purchasing it ahead of schedule, the Group has tripled the spectrum previously used for the new technologies in this frequency range. Deutsche Telekom customers are already benefiting from significantly higher bandwidth for LTE and 5G.
Telekom has the largest 5G network in Germany. Suitable 5G tariffs have been available for almost a year now: 5G is included in all MagentaMobil rates. Almost two million customers have booked the rate portfolio so far and can use 5G.
Deutsche Telekom in 2019 decided to phase out Chinese suppliers such as Huawei and ZTE from the safety-critical core network. This applies to the 5G core network, which is undergoing standardization. The core network contains the central elements for controlling and processing data in the network.
5G is technically not a stand-alone network but adds new functions and technical features to the existing 4G network. Deutsche Telekom uses components from Ericsson and Huawei in its existing RAN.
Deutsche Telekom will use the existing network suppliers such as Ericsson and Huawei to upgrade the antenna network from 4G to 5G. The company has concluded new contracts with Ericsson and Huawei for this purpose.
It is impossible to upgrade 5G from one manufacturer to 4G components from another manufacturer in the antenna network sector.
