Deutsche Telekom expects that 5G networks will cover 50% of the German population by 2022

2021.10.08

By the end of this year, German telecom operators’ goal is to cover 30% of Germany’s population with 5G networks, and the national 5G coverage is expected by the end of 2025.

Deutsche Telekom (Telefénica/O2), a German telecom operator controlled by Telefónica, said that by the end of next year, its 5G services will cover 50% of the country's population. By the end of this year, the operator’s goal is to cover 30% of Germany’s population with a 5G network, and the national 5G coverage is expected to be by the end of 2025.


5G base station deployed in Germany (Image source: rcrwireless)

 

Deutsche Telekom said that 5G expansion will be mainly based on 3.6GHz spectrum and will require about 4 billion euros of investment by the end of 2022.

 

The operator currently activates about 180 5G base stations every week. The company said it has deployed 3,000 5G base stations under the 3.6GHz frequency. "Like 2G, 3G, and 4G, we have also introduced 5G to Germany through rapid network expansion, billions of dollars in network investment, and products with the best price-performance ratio for the mass market," Deutsche Telekom CEO Marcus Ha (Markus Haas) said. "From the very beginning, we have consistently aligned 5G expansion with the specific interests of private customers and companies. Today, one year after its launch, our 5G network is already active in 100 cities.

 

Deutsche Telekom has stated that it will deploy new long-range frequencies in the next few months to cover more and more 5G in rural areas. This includes the deployment of 5G to 700MHz and dynamic spectrum sharing technology (DSS), which combines 4G spectrum and 5G spectrum.

 

Deutsche Telekom/O2 has previously launched a new 5G independent core network. The new 5G SA server in the Munich data center has been connected to O2's existing 5G base station.