O2 Telefonica had recently activated similar 5G street lighting masts in Frankfurt am Main and Würzburg
German operator O2 Telefónica, controlled by Spanish telco Telefónica, and compatriot infrastructure provider 5G Synergiewerk have activated what they claim to be the first 5G street lighting mast in operation in the city of Cologne, as part of a pilot project.
The 5G street lighting mast is located behind Cologne Cathedral and the city’s main train station. The 5G infrastructure combines street lights and cell phone sites, the carrier said.
The carrier highlighted that the 5G street light offers smartphone users high bandwidths, with 5G and 4G/LTE for mobile telephony and data use in the O2 network.
“With the 5G street lighting mast, we are offering an even better mobile network at Cologne Cathedral. Just in time for the European football championship, our customers in Cologne can look forward to additional network capacity,” said Matthias Sauder, director of mobile access and transport at O2 Telefónica.
After the European football championships, the 5G lighting mast will remain permanently as a mobile communications site, the carrier said.
“We are bringing telecommunications providers and municipal utilities together to drive forward the urban 5G expansion with innovative networking solutions. In Cologne, we want to continue to drive forward the expansion of 5G lighting masts together with O2 Telefónica,” said Ralf Gerbershagen, managing director of 5G Synergiewerk.
O2 Telefónica recently activated similar 5G street lighting masts in Frankfurt am Main and Würzburg. Both O2 Telefonica and 5G Synergiewerk will continue to deploy these 5G mast in other cities across Germany.
O2 Telefonica recently said it has already deployed nearly 10,000 5G base stations since it initially launched 5G services back in October 2020.
The operator said it has deployed an average of more than 50 new 5G transmitters every week since the launch of the network. Last year alone, the carrier installed 3,000 5G base stations across Germany.
The telco said its 5G network currently reaches 95% of Germany’s population.
In October 2023, O2 Telefonica announced the launch of its 5G Standalone (SA) network in the country under the 5G Plus brand. Until this launch, the German telco had been offering 5G services through the NonStandalone (NSA) 5G architecture partly via its LTE/4G core network.
The carrier’s 5G Plus uses frequencies in the 700 MHz, 1.8 GHz and 3.6 GHz bands. The telco said it expects its 5G SA service to reach full coverage in Germany by the end of 2025.
