Deutsche Telekom noted it has put more than 5,000 new LTE sites into operation since the 2019 frequency auction
German operator Deutsche Telekom said its LTE coverage now reaches 99% across all federal states in Germany.
To achieve this coverage, Deutsche Telekom noted in a release that it has put more than 5,000 new mobile sites into operation since the 2019 frequency auction. In addition, the telco’s technical teams have also expanded existing locations with more capacity.
The carrier also said that 99.6% of the overall German population currently has LTE with at least 100 Mbits.
“We supply at least 99% of the population with LTE in every single federal state. This means that Telekom has exceeded the Federal Network Agency ‘s expansion specifications that came with the last spectrum award,” said Srini Gopalan, Deutsche Telekom board member for Germany.
Deutsche Telekom said it also expanded the mobile network in its so-called coverage “white spots”. Since the frequency auction, the telco says that almost 1,500 white spots have been completely closed. From the list of 500 white spots agreed upon with the federal states and the Federal Network Agency in November 2021, 296 white spots have already been closed. In addition, basic coverage with broadband mobile communications already exists in many of the remaining areas. This was made possible, among other things, by the reallocation of the 900 MHz frequency band to LTE last year.
“In order for us to be able to further advance the digital infrastructure, everyone must now pull together. Because the support of municipalities, authorities and local people is crucial so that we can close the last gaps,” Gopalan added.
Deutsche Telekom also said it is looking for new locations throughout Germany to deploy LTE infrastructure to provide coverage in underserved areas.
Deutsche Telekom recently announced its 5G network already reaches 95% of the country’s population. The European telco has said that it expects that its 5G technology could reach 99% of the Germany population by 2025.
The carrier also highlighted that more than 80,000 antennas are currently transmitting 5G, of which around 8,200 antennas are already providing the technology via the 3.6 GHz band.
In June last year, Deutsche Telekom announced it was for the first time using spectrum in the 700 MHz range to provide 5G service. The European operator said that the use of the 700 MHz band improve mobile communications coverage in rural areas across Germany.
With this latest addition, the telco is already offering 5G services via three different frequencies. In addition to the 700 MHz frequency, there are two other radio bands: 2.1 GHz and 3.6 GHz.
The telco said that 5G Standalone (SA) is technically available in the 2.1 GHz frequency band, adding that commercial use of 5G SA for residential customers will start as soon as applications are available.
Deutsche Telekom kicked off the rollout of its 5G network in a limited number of cities across Germany at the beginning of July 2019.
Last month, Deutsche Telekom announced a partnership with Nokia, Fujitsu and Mavenir for the initial phase of its commercial Open RAN (O-RAN) deployments across its European footprint.
