O2 Telefonica now reaches more than 96% of the German population with its 5G service
German carrier O2 Telefónica said it has deployed a total of 1,900 transmitters across Germany since the beginning, the telco said in a release. The carrier, owned by Spanish telco Telefonica, also said it has completed around 4,800 expansion measures since the beginning of the year to improve its network infrastructure.
"We are continuously investing in a more powerful O2 network in order to optimize the daily digital experience for our customers. New smartphone generations and applications such as AI tools are placing ever higher demands on mobile connectivity. By expanding our 5G and 4G networks, we are ensuring that our customers are always well connected and can exploit the full potential of digital opportunities," said Matthias Sauder, director of networks at O2 Telefónica
As a result of the expansion measures, O2 Telefonica now reaches more than 96% of the German population with its 5G service.
In the last three months, the telco's technicians have put 5G into operation on the 3.6 GHz frequencies in cities such as Berlin, Hamburg, Bremen, Dresden, Frankfurt am Main, Mannheim, Munich, Essen, Düsseldorf and Cologne.
In October 2023, O2 Telefonica announced the launch of its 5G Standalone (SA) network in the country under the 5G Plus brand. Until this launch, the German telco had been offering 5G services through the NonStandalone (NSA) 5G architecture partly via its LTE/4G core network.
The carrier noted that the 5G SA network will enable customers to have access to voice-over-new-radio (VoNR) technology, which enables them to make calls with even better voice quality over the 5G network.
O2 Telefónica said it has already been using the 5G SA technology in 5G campus networks for companies and public authorities since 2020. With this new launch, the company noted that more companies in different sectors such as industry, healthcare and the public sector will have access to improved connectivity.
The carrier's 5G Plus uses frequencies in the 700 MHz, 1.8 GHz and 3.6 GHz bands.
The telco said it expects its 5G SA service to reach full coverage in Germany by the end of 2025.
Last year, O2 Telefónica and Ericsson had completed a proof of concept (PoC) with the aim of paving the way for the development of 5G cloud RAN technology in Europe.
Ericsson and O2 Telefonica noted that this collaboration "validates the feasibility" of cloud RAN for enterprise and industry-specific use cases as well as fixed wireless access (FWA) use cases.