Deutsche Telekom has put several thousand 5G stations into operation. This is intended to give 16 million people access to the 5G network.
16 million people should now be able to use 5G in the telecom network: The telco company has put several thousand 5G stations into operation in one fell swoop. Meanwhile, 12,000 5G antennas are active in Germany, said Deutsche Telekom.
Telekom plans to further expand 5G capacities in Germany in the coming weeks. By mid-July, 40 million people in Germany will be able to use 5G in the Telekom network, Telekom promises. Over 1,000 cities and municipalities are already supplied with 5G. By the end of the year, 40,000 5G antennas should be in operation.
Variable use of frequencies
Progress in 5G expansion, according to Telekom, is made possible by the variable use of mobile radio frequencies. Telekom uses 15 megahertz in the 2.1 gigahertz band for both LTE and 5G.
The auctioned frequencies uses the Telekom in cities and in rural areas in different ways: In large cities, Telekom radioed to 3.6 GHz to achieve higher speeds. In contrast, the 2.1 GHz frequency band is used in rural areas, which has a longer range.
Deutsche Telekom provides an overview of 5G coverage on its own website. 5G is already widely available in regions around cities such as Berlin, Hamburg and Dortmund. The situation is even worse in the regions of Hanover, Munich and Frankfurt am Main. That could change by mid-July.
According to Telekom, the sudden 5G expansion was the reason for the extensive network disruptions that Telekom customers noticed on Tuesday night. Numerous users across Germany had problems connecting to the mobile Internet or making phone calls. CEO Timotheus Höttges had justified the failures with the 5G expansion .