Vodafone Germany continued to expand its 5G coverage across the country, following the activation of the first 5G network in Berlin.
Vodafone said that the first antenna in Berlin is located in Germany’s largest science and technology park, Adlershof.
Vodafone also said that its customers can now use the Mate 20 X 5G from the Chinese manufacturer Huawei to connect to the 5G network. Vodafone announced that the Galaxy S10 5G from Samsung will follow “shortly,” after receiving a software update.
Last month, Vodafone started to activate the first antennas for 5G networks in Germany. Vodafone Germany’s 5G service is already live in Cologne, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Dortmund, and Munich, among other cities. During August, the service is expected to be activated in other cities including Berlin, Bremen, Dresden, Darmstadt, Leipzig, and Frankfurt.
Vodafone’s 5G network will cover 25 cities, 25 municipalities and 10 industrial parks across Germany by the end of 2019. It will reach 10 million users by the end of 2020, and 20 million by the end of 2021, the company said.
Vodafone Germany acquired radio spectrum for 5G mobile networks at Germany’s Federal Network Agency for a total cost of 1.88 billion euros ($2.08 billion). It has secured 90 megahertz in the 3.6 GHz band and 40 megahertz of 2100 MHz spectrum The auction ended in mid-June and generated around 6.55 billion euros.
Vodafone Germany recently confirmed that it will continue to pursue a dual-vendor strategy for its networks, with gear from Chinese vendor Huawei and Sweden’s Ericsson.
Meanwhile, rival carriers Deutsche Telekom (DT) kicked off the rollout of its 5G network in six cities across the country at the beginning of July.
The initial rollouts are taking place in Berlin and Bonn, which will be followed by Darmstadt, Hamburg, Leipzig, and Munich.
DT said that a total of 300 5G base stations in more than 100 locations across the country will be deployed and brought online by the end of the year.
In the upcoming 18 months, the 20 largest cities in Germany will be connected with 5G, according to DT.
In related news, executives from German MVNO 1&1 Drillisch highlighted that the company was in a good position to create a new mobile network in the country after the firm obtained 5G spectrum in the recent auction.
In a letter to shareholders, the company’s executive team said the company was in a “good position to take the next steps” in its development, adding spectrum acquired in Germany’s 5G auction would allow it to deploy a “powerful mobile services network”.
“In acquiring these frequencies, we have laid the cornerstone for a successful and long-term positioning of 1&1 Drillisch Group as the fourth mobile network operator in Germany,” it added.
