1&1 has announced that 5G services based on its OpenRAN network, which was launched in Frankfurt and Karlsruhe on 28 December 2022, are set to be expanded to cities such as Hamburg, Essen, Dusseldorf, Wiesbaden, Mainz, Munich and Freiburg in the next few weeks. The OpenRAN system is based solely on the cloud, with open, standardised interfaces of the technology allowing the combination of components from any manufacturer. All 1&1 radio masts are equipped with gigabit antennas and connected exclusively by fibre-optic networks to regional edge data centres operating standard servers. At present, 235 sites are under construction, and the first interim target of 1,000 radio masts should be achieved during this year.
‘Despite delays in recent months, we still want to meet our obligation to cover 50% of all households by the end of 2030 ahead of schedule’, commented CEO Ralph Dommermuth, adding: ‘We expect to achieve this goal by commissioning about 12,600 radio masts and more than 500 regional data centres.’
1&1’s recently launched 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) home broadband service for residential customers is aimed at replacing conventional fixed line DSL, fibre-optic or cable-based connections and can provide maximum download speeds of 500Mbps and upload rates of 40Mbps. The ‘1&1 5G zu Hause’ service is not yet designed for mobile use but is instead available at the customer’s place of residence via a choice of two WLAN routers. 1&1 states that smartphone rate plans will follow in the summer and coincide with the scheduled provision of national roaming services by Telefonica Deutschland.
Source: https://www.commsupdate.com/articles/2023/01/04/11-set-to-switch-on-openran-network-in-more-cities/