Two German operators are using dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) to launch 5G. Deutsche Telekom said it will cover more than half of the German population, or more than 40 million people, with its 5G this year with help from DSS. And Vodafone Germany said it’s using DSS in the 700MHz band to offer 5G and 4G services.
DSS enables the parallel operation of two mobile communications standards in one frequency band.
DT said its rapid rollout of 5G is made possible by a technical upgrade to existing antennas in its network. The 5G variant of antenna technology is currently being tested in field trials.
“The antenna technology enables DSS, which we will use to bring 4G and 5G to our customers,” said a DT spokesperson in an email to FierceWireless. “In future, Deutsche Telekom will use 5 megahertz from its existing 3G spectrum in the 2.1 GHz band for LTE and 5G. This would not be possible without the antenna modernization.”
In its announcement DT said, “The modernized system technology will be used to control the existing antenna and will be upgraded to 5G. With this new 5G variant, the existing passive antenna technology is optimally reused for future technologies in parallel to active antennas.”
DT said it’s working on bringing 5G to not only densely-populated cities but also rural areas of Germany. The carrier has set a target to cover 90% of Germany’s territory with 5G by 2025. DT said the first devices capable of handling the new 5G technologies are expected to be available this summer.
Vodafone Germany
Vodafone Germany also said it has launched dynamic spectrum sharing using 700 MHz frequencies for 4G and 5G.
“This year, the digitization group will make 5G everyday for well over 10 million people in Germany,” according to a Vodafone announcement. The operator is working with Ericsson on the DSS technology.
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The company said a 700 megahertz mobile station provides 5G for an area of around 20 square kilometers. Vodafone already activated more than 8,000 antennas at 2,800 locations for 5G via the 700 megahertz frequencies this year, bringing the fast network to an area of more than 60,000 square kilometers.
Vodafone Germany said the Huawei P40 Pro 5G smartphone is available for Vodafone customers and supports 5G via the 3.5 gigahertz and the new 700 megahertz frequencies. Oppo's new flagship is also ready for 5G.