O2 Telefónica has focused on expanding its O2 network in the first quarter of 2023 and is ensuring better mobile coverage throughout Germany. O2 Telefonica has already met the coverage obligations of the Federal Network Agency and is now continuing its network expansion program. This includes building new mobile sites, expanding its 4G/LTE network, and bringing the 5G network to more regions.
O2 Telefonica now covers more than 82% of the population with 5G in the first quarter of 2023 alone. The telco says it has put around 1,000 5G sites into operation from January to March 2023 alone. In addition, O2 Telefonica’s 4G network covers over 99% of the population with mobile broadband via 4G.
Mallik Rao, chief technology and information officer of O2 Telefónica, explains: “We are investing massively in an ever better O2 mobile network. We provide over 99% of the population with mobile broadband via 4G. We are closing even more white spots and further expanding our fast O2 5G network. This year we are densifying our 5G network in cities and rural areas to further improve the 5G customer experience. We’re making sure consumers and businesses can connect reliably every day.”
The O2 5G network continues to grow
In the first quarter of this year, 200 mobile sites with fast 5G on the 3.6 gigahertz frequency were added. For O2 customers in Berlin, Hamburg, Bremen, Essen, Munich, Magdeburg and around 50 other cities, there is thus even more 5G at high speed. At around 600 additional locations, O2 Telefónica now offers 5G on the long-range 700 MHz frequency, which ensures better 5G coverage in the area and inside buildings.
In addition, there are mobile network sites with the so-called Dynamic Spectrum Sharing technology, in which 5G and 4G share the available spectrum according to customer demand. By the end of 2023, O2 Telefónica will cover 90% of the country’s population with 5G, and the whole of Germany by 2025 at the latest.
O2 Telefónica provides better mobile coverage nationwide
In recent years, O2 Telefónica has expanded the O2 network and improved network quality. Of the approximately 26,000 locations in the O2 network today, O2 Telefónica has processed or built around 20,000 locations over the past three years to meet coverage requirements. More than 99% of households are covered with at least 100 Mbit/s. In many federal states, the company has exceeded the corresponding requirement. The most important transport routes are supplied by O2 Telefónica with at least 100 Mbit/s at around 100%, as far as this is legally and factually possible. In order to supply other transport routes such as state and national roads, waterways and ports, the mobile network providers must fulfil further coverage requirements by the end of 2024.
O2 Telefónica has already been working on this since autumn 2019 as part of a trilateral project with its competitors. The network expansion also continues here: in the first quarter of 2023, O2 Telefónica implemented around 1,200 4G expansion measures – parallel to the 5G expansion programme. The company added 4G to 169 completely new mobile sites between January and March, further densifying the O2 network. In addition, O2 network engineers have carried out more than 900 4G capacity expansions at existing LTE sites.
The higher capacities mean that even more O2 customers can use their digital applications in parallel. The white spots have also long since ceased to be white and certainly no longer radio gaps. O2 Telefónica provides around 90% of the areas defined as ‘white spots’ by the Federal Network Agency as part of the coverage obligation with 100 Mbit/s. The company is working on closing the last white spots as soon as possible through its own expansion as well as through cooperation with competitors.
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