Five years after the launch of the first German cell phone network, cell phone companies are aiming for almost complete domestic coverage. “5G should reach the entire population by the end of 2025,” said Mallick Rao, technology chief at O2 Telefonica in Munich. However, it is unlikely to be 100 percent, as O2, like other network operators, is having difficulty finding suitable land for its antennas everywhere. Telekom is aiming for a 99 percent coverage by the end of 2025, Vodafone wants to reach 95 percent by March 2025.
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Vodafone activated its then-small 5G network for end customers on July 17, 2019. Deutsche Telekom and O2 Telefonica followed suit later by opening their networks to consumers. After the initial 5G launch, Vodafone lagged behind and was overtaken by its competitors: Deutsche Telekom claims its antennas reach more than 96 percent of German households, while O2 reaches 96 percent. Vodafone has a share of more than 92 percent.
The percentage values ​​refer to homes; this specification comes from the Federal Network Agency’s list of requirements. But this area is more meaningful for citizens, after all, they want to get a network not only where there are homes, but everywhere they travel.
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The Federal Network Agency has published information from network operators up to April 2024. This shows that Deutsche Telekom is clearly ahead: the Bonn-based group has an area coverage of 81.1 percent for 5G, Vodafone has 69 percent and O2 Telefonica has 66 percent. 5 percent.
O2 is the only one of the three operators that has already completely switched its network to “5G Standalone” and completely removed the technology of the previous 4G standard in the 5G network. Although this is technically an advantage, most smartphone users are unlikely to notice this additional benefit in their everyday applications.
Speed ​​Benefits of 5G 5G offers faster data transfers. Vodafone specifies its maximum download speeds of 300 megabits per second for private customers with the previous technology 4G (also known as LTE) and 1000 megabits per second for 5G. It is also important that 5G offers relatively reliable bandwidth, even if there are a lot of people on the cell. However, with 4G, the bandwidth drops significantly.
Looking at 6G
Every ten years a new wireless standard comes to market, with 6G expected in 2029 or 2030. Transmission and latency (response time) will probably be even better. Vodafone manager de Groot says 5G will still be around for a very long time.
From today’s perspective, it seems difficult to imagine the everyday benefits for consumers – but given the increasing data requirements of virtual reality applications and other Internet services, 6G could also be beneficial to them. Ultimately, this is still a matter of the future. 6G is seen as having great potential in medicine, for example in operations that are controlled remotely.
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