5G networks covered 89% of Germany’s territory as of July, up 5.1% percentage points compared to the 5G coverage registered at the beginning of the year, local newspaper Handelsblatt reported, citing data from the country’s Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur).
5G coverage nationwide as of July showed an increase of 38.1 percentage points compared to July 2022, according to the report.
Meanwhile, nationwide 4G coverage reached 97.2% in July, an increase of 0.2 percentage points since January 2023 and one percentage point since July 2022.
Among the federal states, Hesse had the worst 5G area coverage in July with 82.5%. In Bremen, the operators reported a combined 5G coverage of 99.99%.
Among the regional states, Schleswig-Holstein achieved the best coverage rate with 96.8%, followed by Lower Saxony (92.8%), Saxony (92.5%) and North Rhine-Westphalia (92.1%).
German telecom operator Deutsche Telekom recently said that a total of 9,700 of its 5G antennas in 750 cities are currently transmitting on the 3.6 GHz spectrum band.
Around 95% of households can already access Deutsche Telekom’s 5G network, while LTE coverage currently reaches 99% of households across Germany.
In June of last year, Deutsche Telekom announced it was for the first time using spectrum in the 700 MHz range to provide 5G service. The European carrier said that the use of the 700 MHz band improve mobile communications coverage in rural areas across Germany. In addition to the 700 MHz frequency, there are two other radio bands: 2.1 GHz and 3.6 GHz.
Deutsche Telekom said that 5G Standalone (SA) is technically available in the 2.1 GHz frequency band, adding that commercial use of 5G SA for residential customers will start as soon as applications are available.
Deutsche Telekom kicked off the rollout of its 5G network in a limited number of cities across Germany at the beginning of July 2019.
Rival operator Vodafone Germany has already deployed 4,300 5G Standalone (SA) stations with around 13,000 5G SA antennas across the country.
The carrier said its 5G SA technology currently reaches 45% of the country’s overall population. Vodafone had previously said that 5G SA technology will reach nationwide coverage by 2025. Vodafone noted that a total of 14,200 locations with more than 43,000 antennas have been already upgraded to 5G.
The carrier said its 5G network already reaches more than 90% of Germany’s population, adding that 43% of smartphones used in Vodafone’s mobile network are now 5G cell phones, compared to 26% a year ago.
Meanwhile, O2 Telefonica, controlled by Spanish telco Telefónica, previously said its 5G network currently reaches 90% of Germany’s population. The telco said that it is on course to achieve nationwide coverage with 5G by the end of 2025 at the latest.
Newcomer 1&1 recently confirmed that it was on track to launch 5G technology via its own network infrastructure next year.
Source: https://www.rcrwireless.com/20230926/5g/german-telcos-rapidly-expand-5g-coverage-germany-regulator