Telecommunications: 5G network from O2 reaches 90 percent of households

2023-07-26 12:53:05

Telecommunications 5G network from O2 reaches 90 percent of households

A mobile phone mast with antennas for the 5G radio standard (above) and for LTE/4G (below). photo

© Christoph Dernbach/dpa

The 5G radio standard was initially only for specialists, but then it became a mass application. Very fast data transmission is possible in more and more places, as figures from O2 show.

Mobile phone network expansion in Germany is progressing. The telecommunications provider Telefónica (O2) announced on Wednesday in Munich that its own 5G network now reaches 90.1 percent of German households. That was an increase of 8 percentage points in three months. Originally, O2 had aimed for the 90 percent mark for the year as a whole, but completion has now been reported ahead of schedule. “We are well on the way to achieving our goal of Germany-wide 5G coverage by 2025,” said company boss Markus Haas. Telekom had recently reached 95 percent for 5G coverage and Vodafone 81 percent.

The O2 manager emphasized that they will continue to invest. In the second half of 2023 you will “reach another step on the way to 99.99 percent”. The coverage refers to households. In terms of area – including sparsely populated areas – the value is lower.

On course for growth thanks to investments

Telefónica Deutschland is on a growth course. Thanks to high investments, the company has significantly improved its network and is attracting significantly more customers than before. In the second quarter, the number of mobile contract customers rose by around 300,000 to 27 million. The company was once again well ahead of its weakening competitor Vodafone, which had grown by 24,000 in the spring quarter. In the past few quarters, O2 had already been able to show similarly high growth rates as this spring. Telefónica, which also sells landline contracts, increased sales by 4.4 percent to 2.1 billion euros, net profit climbed by 12 to 53 million euros.

On another topic, company boss Haas showed concern: As part of the new allocation of frequencies expected for next year, politicians are debating whether there should be a so-called service provider obligation. Here, the network operators would have to rent part of their capacity to other companies that do not have their own network, such as Freenet. This company is demanding such an obligation and is thus met with a thoroughly benevolent attitude in federal politics, after all there would be more competitors on the market, which in turn could be good for consumers.

The network operators are against it. From their point of view, their investments would be partially devalued. Four billion euros have been invested in the 5G network, said O2 Germany boss Haas on Wednesday and gave the example of an entrepreneur who is building a hotel with 100 rooms. “And then, three years later, someone comes along and says: ‘Look, you’re not allowed to rent out 30 rooms yourself anymore’.” There should not be such a change in the rules, rather planning security is necessary. According to O2, it is negotiating network capacities with other companies. A state-ordered compulsion is a red rag for O2.

dpa