Telekom Deutschland, the domestic fixed and mobile operator of German telecoms company Deutsche Telekom, has revealed plans to speed up the rate of its fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network rollout programme next year. Telekom expects to deploy up to three million fibre-optic customer connections in 2023, compared to the approximately two million connections for homes and businesses that are on track to be rolled out for this year. By the end of 2022 Telekom will increase its fibre reach to a total of 5.2 million households and businesses, with this set to rise to more than ten million connections by end-2024.
Telekom says it has also exceeded its targets for 2022 in terms of mobile network expansion, with 94% of the German population now able to access its 5G network. More than 80,000 antennas are transmitting 5G, around 8,000 antennas of which use the 3.7GHz band. The firm is aiming to increase 5G coverage to 99% of the population by 2025. Telekom revealed that its planned 5G Standalone (5G SA) is now technically available in the 700MHz, 2100MHz and 3.7GHz bands, although commercial use for residential customers will only start as soon as applications are available. In the business customer segment, TV broadcaster RTL is already using network slicing in the 5G SA network.