Better late than never! Together with Vodafone, Deutsche Bahn wants to plug the holes in the radio network along the railway tracks. All routes are to be supplied with LTE data radio, the ICE routes even with the new 5G + standard.
LTE for the country, 5G for the ICE
In practice, the partnership that has now been announced means that all 7,800 kilometers of railway line on which IC and ICE operate should be supplied with at least LTE, and in the best case even with 5G+, by mid-2025. Vodafone wants to deliver at least 225 megabits per second as a speed, on a further 13,800 kilometers it should be at least 125 megabits via LTE data transmission.
Vodafone boss Hannes Ametsreiter (55): “Train travelers are still too often annoyed by annoying dead spots. Together with Deutsche Bahn, we are now finally finding a remedy and eliminating one of the biggest annoyances for many millions of commuters and travelers.”
Telekom and O2 also benefit
Interesting side aspect: Telekom and O2 customers will also benefit from the expansion. On the one hand, because there is cooperation between the network operators in many areas around the railway lines. On the other hand, because the fast Vodafone network will also speed up the WLAN in the trains offered by the railways.