The 5G network for O2 customers in Germany was launched in two steps (Image: Telefónica)

After Vodafone and Telekom, the third mobile operator has now also launched its 5G network. However, further expansion plans are more cautious than those of its competitors.

Telefónica launched its 5G network in time for the thirtieth anniversary of German unification. In the first step, the O2 mother activated the 5G network with 150 antennas in the 3.6 GHz range in the five largest metropolitan areas in Germany:

• Berlin
• Frankfurt
• Hamburg
• Cologne
• Munich

After a few days ten more cities joined:

• Bochum
• Bonn
• Dortmund
• Düsseldorf
• Essen
• Mannheim
• Münster
• Nuremberg
• Potsdam
• Stuttgart

In Berlin, Telefónica has been active with a 5G indoor campus solution since March 2020. The “Basecamp” in Berlin Mitte enables interested companies and consumers to try out 5G mobile technology on site. However, even after the public 5G network has now been launched, only a small part of the city area is covered at any one time. The actual availability is not yet clear. The map view of the network coverage on the O2 website is currently being revised and will also show the status of the 5G roll-out from 3.11.2020, the provider announced.

The further expansion plans

Markus Haas, CEO of Telefónica Germany, announced that the number of 5G antenna sites would be increased to over 2,000 by the end of 2021. Not only cities, but also rural areas should explicitly benefit from this expansion. There the network operator will not use the newly auctioned 5G frequencies, which only allow relatively small cells and therefore require a narrower mast network. Rather, it will successively reallocate frequencies in the 2.1 GHz range previously used for 3G to 5G by means of Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS). Later, frequencies in the 800 MHz and 1.8 GHz bands will also be used.

By the end of next year, 30 percent of the population would then be supplied with 5G via 6,000 antennas, with further expansion by the end of 2022, the 50 percent mark should already be exceeded. Until then, the provider plans to invest 4 billion euros. Telefónica aims to achieve full coverage of the entire country by 2025 at the latest.

Initially, Telefónica’s 5G network offers a maximum data rate of 300 Mbps. According to the CEO, this is currently standard in the industry. With the further expansion of the network, this figure is expected to rise in the future. Up to 20 GBit/s are possible at peak times, Haas announced. Thanks to shorter reaction times, 5G will develop in the direction of real-time communication and will exploit its full potential in augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), for example.

Partner of the industry

The modern network will also give industry and medium-sized companies new momentum for modern production and logistics processes and the Internet of Things. The increased use of cloud computing and virtualization will also make it much easier for industry to set up 5G campus networks. Markus Haas sees this as a huge efficiency lever for the economy, because with O2’s cloud-based 5G networking, companies will be able to bring their products to market faster and more cost-effectively in future and increase their profitability.

Telefónica is positioning itself as a partner for setting up customized 5G networking solutions, for example for Industry 4.0 with digital factories, for intelligent energy networks or networked driving. The Mercedes-Benz Cars “Factory 56” in Sindelfingen, where an O2-5G campus network networks the car manufacturer’s production facilities in real time, serves as a reference.

Smartphone tariffs

According to the company, the use of the 5G network is included in all O2 Free tariffs for private customers from just under €40 monthly flat rate without any further surcharges. However, the option must first be activated in the customer portal. For business customers, Telefónica has so far only offered tariff models on its website that extend to LTE. In the meantime, the business rates for 5G have also been updated. The “O2 Business Unlimited” offers start at 17.50 euros per month.