Vodafone Germany said that the number of 5G-capable devices on its network has more than doubled in the last six months, with around 1.3 million customers now using a 5G smartphone on the Vodafone network, the carrier said in a release.
The telco said that around two-thirds of Vodafone customers who are currently buying a new smartphone choose a model that features 5G technology. Vodafone currently offers 30 5G devices.
The German telco said it has installed 5G technology at more than 3,000 of its 25,000 cellular locations, with more than 9,000 5G antennas already live.
Vodafone Germany said its 5G network already reaches 25 million people across the country.
The company aims to service over 30 million people with 5G in Germany by the end of this year. Vodafone had originally announced that it would reach around 20 million people with 5G by the end of 2021.
Vodafone also said that over 1,000 of the 5G antennas transmit in the 3.5 GHz range – with extremely low latency times of just 10 to 15 milliseconds.
In April, Vodafone Germany launched its 5G standalone (SA) network in partnership with Ericsson, Nokia, Qualcomm and OPPO.
At the time of the launch, Vodafone upgraded 1,000 sites to SA 5G, covering 170 cities and municipalities via 3.5 GHz spectrum. The 5G SA network was initially launched in some major cities including Frankfurt, Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich and Düsseldorf.
The telco said that it aims to reach 4,000 sites in the 5G SA network by the end of the year.
Vodafone’s 5G SA network will also support network slicing, which means that different parts of the network can be allocated for different specific use cases.
Vodafone Germany said that it will be operating a total of ten 5G data centers by 2023, with the aim of managing the new 5G SA network. The first data center is already operational in Frankfurt, while new 5G data centers in Berlin and Munich will go online later this year. The other 5G data centers will follow by 2023.
Vodafone initially launched its 5G network in Germany in 2019, on 3.5 GHz frequencies that it acquired from Telefónica in 2018.
In June, Vodafone Germany announced the establishment of a 5G R&D facility in the city of Dresden, in the state of Saxony.
Vodafone said that the new center will focus on research and development into technologies such as 5G and future 6G systems, as well as specific applications in the fields of autonomous driving, connected agriculture, chemistry and construction, and OpenRAN.
Vodafone said its new research center will generate more than 200 highly qualified jobs over the next few years.
