Vodafone Germany has announced that its 5G network is now available in Berlin, with the mobile network operator (MNO) also confirming that it currently has 40 active 5G base stations across a number of locations across the country. With a first base station now having been switched on in the capital (at the Adlershof Technology Park), Vodafone Germany has noted that two more will be activated shortly. In addition, the cellco revealed in a press release regarding the network development that the first 5G sites had also gone live in a number of other new locations, including Bremen, Duisburg, Frankfurt, Solingen and Wolfsburg.
As previously reported by CommsUpdate, in July 2019 Vodafone Germany announced the commercial launch of 5G services for consumers, with its first 25 5G base stations switched on in 20 cities and communities at that date, including Cologne, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Dortmund and Munich, and the municipalities of Birgland (Bavaria), Lohmar (North Rhine-Westphalia) and Hattstedt (Nordfriesland). As per the cellco’s plans, it said at the time of launch that it was aiming to increase the number of 5G base stations it had in operation to more than 50 by the end of August, with other areas expected to gain coverage including Dresden, Darmstadt, Leipzig and Mulheim an der Ruhr. Looking further ahead, by end-March 2020 the cellco aims to have more than 160 5G antennas live in 25 cities, 25 municipalities and ten industrial parks and by the end of that year ten million people will be connected to the 5G network, rising to 20 million twelve months later.