Mobile communication turbo 4.5G:Telefónica and Huawei launch first German pilot network

Higher capacities and data speed, shorter response times – Telefónica Deutschland and Huawei are launching a pilot network in Munich with the turbo mobile communication standard 4.5G. Telefónica is the first network operator in Germany to take this LTE expansion stage from the laboratory and road-test it in practical field trials. In doing so, the company further paves the way towards a gigabit society in Germany. The 4.5G technology promises to provide mobile communication customers with speed of up to 1.2 Gbit/s as early as 2017 and is an important intermediate stage towards 5G, the future standard of mobile networks. Possible fields of application for 4.5G are locations with a demand for high capacities due to a recurrently high concentration of smartphone and tablet users, for instance train stations, airports, stadiums and festivals. In order to practically test the application of the 4.5G technology in the mobile network, which is planned for 2017, Telefónica, together with its technology partner Huawei, has created a 4.5G pilot network in Munich.

It covers the north of Munich around the Olympic park. Customers cannot access the new network as yet. With a perspective to 5G, it also serves as a research environment for applications that require high transmission rates and low latency, for instance real-time operation of industrial applications or connected driving. First trials in Telefónica’s 4.5G pilot network have been successful. To begin with, in the live operation of the trial network a transmission rate of up to 400 Mbit/s has been made available. The transmission rate will be boosted continuously in the subsequent period. Earlier this year, Telefónica and Huawei already achieved the transmission of mobile data at up to 1.2 Gbit/s under laboratory conditions by combining five LTE frequency bands. In doing so, Telefónica demonstrates that, also with regard to its frequency spectrum, the company is optimally prepared for the future of mobile communication.

Telefónica currently contributes its experience and competence in several expert committees on an international level and, together with partners and competitors, hence actively shapes the mobile technology of the future. Telefónica is a member of the NGMN (“Next Generation Mobile Networks”) and is involved in the development of 5G through several other programmes, such as the “METIS2020” EU programme for research and development and “5G NORMA” as part of the 5G PP initiative.