The first聽5G聽antennas in聽Europe to fully support the new communications standard are now operating, in real-world conditions, in Deutsche Telekom’s network in downtown Berlin.
The antennas, in three cells located in Leipziger Stra脽e and three in Winterfeldtstra脽e, are based on聽5G聽New Radio (5G聽NR) – the mobile component of聽5G.
With this technical setup, Deutsche Telekom has successfully demonstrated Europe’s first聽5G聽data connection over a live network.
Currently, the Group is deploying an entire聽5G聽cluster in the heart of Berlin.
“We’re continuing on our strong preparation course for the rollout of聽5G聽in 2020,” said Claudia Nemat, Deutsche Telekom Board member for Technology and Innovation.
“Today, right in the heart of Berlin, we’re taking the next decisive step 鈥� with the successful integration of commercial聽5G聽technology into our network.
鈥淲e want to ensure that聽5G is going to deliver on its promise of enhanced mobility, high speed and low latency.”
Deutsche Telekom’s聽5G聽cluster in downtown Berlin is initially spanning an area of up to five kilometers wide.
The first six commercial antennas are now installed in sites in Berlin’s Mitte and Sch枚neberg districts for test operations.
An additional 70 cells are to be installed by the summer of this year, across a total of more than 20 sites. The result will be a major聽5G聽testbed right in the centre of Germany’s capital.
“5G聽New Radio in Berlin is another major step towards聽5G聽for all,鈥� explained Walter Goldenits, chief technology officer at Telekom Deutschland.
“This聽5G聽cluster in Berlin will serve as the basis for our future commercial聽5G聽rollout in Germany. The antennas are providing important test results.
鈥淎t the same time, they are real elements of what will be our future聽5G聽network. We are preparing the ground so that our network will be ready when the first聽5G-capable smartphones appear on the market.”
Currently, the antennas are using frequencies in the 3.7 GHz spectrum band under a testing license. In general, the 3-GHz band is one of the spectrum bands in focus for聽5G聽initial deployments.
Germany’s Bundesnetzagentur (Federal Network Agency聽for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Post and Railway) is responsible for聽5G聽spectrum license allocation and related planning in Germany.
For the pre-commercial set up in the centre of Berlin,聽5G聽equipment is integrated into the live network infrastructure, meaning it is interacting with Deutsche Telekom’s聽4G spectrum in Germany.
This will enable the interconnection and field testing of future聽5G services under real-world conditions.
The mobile communications component for聽5G聽was standardised in December 2017.
The type of antenna elements used in the rollout 鈥� Massive聽MIMO聽5G聽antennas 鈥� greatly improve coverage precision for each individual user.
To accelerate the development of new聽5G聽applications, Deutsche Telekom working in cooperation with its Berlin-based hub:raum start-up incubator, has launched the聽5GPrototyping Program.
Another relevant program, focused on low latency, is already successfully underway. Both programs are geared towards innovative application developers seeking to exploit the advantages of Edge Computing and聽5G聽network performance.
These developers will have the opportunity to verify their ideas on a live environment in the聽5G聽cluster in Berlin.
At this year’s Mobile World Congress exhibition in Barcelona, Deutsche Telekom announced plans to test a聽5G-based system for intelligent management of energy grids.
The smart grid testbed is currently being set up in Dresden. In addition, Deutsche Telekom has established MobiledgeX, a new subsidiary that aims to tap into the potential of Edge Computing and extremely low latencies.