Deutsche Telekom says that its first 5G Antennas are up where it operates in Europe and that it’s on track to fully deploy its 5G network for use by customers by sometime in 2020. Though no exact dates have been mentioned by Deutsche Telekom as to when the 5G network would be up and running and devices would be taking advantage of the improvements, 2020 seems to be slightly ahead of schedule for the German-based wireless carrier, and it also puts DT in the lead as far as 5G in Europe goes when compared to other carriers.
DT-owned T-Mobile is trying to echo the same sentiments, working towards getting its own 5G up and running ahead of the other carriers in the U.S. so it can lead the charge in not only U.S.-based 5G networks but hopefully on a global stage as well, which is part of the argument for the merger between it and Sprint. For Deutsche Telekom the 5G antennas that are now up and running are spread across six different cell sites in Berlin, Germany, and are helping the carrier make some headway in 5G testing.
Beyond the six cell sites that already have these 5G antennas up, Deutsche Telekom plans to deploy more 5G antennas across 20 more sites. What’s more is that it plans to do this by the Summer and by that time it will have rolled out an additional 70 antennas on top of the ones it has just deployed. Deutsche Telekom like many carriers and companies across the world are heavily invested in launching 5G networks, with DT stating that it’s “deeply engaged” with the technology and making it a successful one is a top priority. 5G will bring many advancements for smartphones and other smart connected devices, so it should be no surprise to see companies that are so reliant on mobile technology giving best efforts to deploy 5G networks as quickly as they can. That said, Deutsche Telekom is still doing its due diligence with testing every aspect of 5G before rolling out the network completely as it wants to make sure that it lives up to the promise of improvements.