Network 2021

A mobile communications era is coming to an end: O₂ / Telefónica will shut down the last 3G sites in the O₂ mobile network on 30 December, sealing the end of UMTS (3G) in Germany. The freed-up frequencies at 2,100 MHz, which O₂ previously used for 3G, will be used entirely for the faster and more efficient 4G standard.

O₂ / Telefónica has reached a milestone in the implementation and control of software defined network functions. For the first time, the telecommunications provider – together with its technology partners – has implemented a vendor-agnostic SDN interface in its nationwide O₂ network. This interface is compatible with a wide range of microwave systems, enabling the company to implement changes to its microwave links uniformly across all manufacturers and in near real time. O₂ / Telefónica is already using this innovative interface for all of the approximately 30,000 microwave links in the O₂ network, which are responsible for transporting data between mobile network sites and the next network node with capacities of up to 10 Gbit/s. Microwave complements fiber-optic services to transport large amounts of data over longer distances cost-effectively and efficiently over the air.

For its 5G mobile network expansion in Germany, O₂ / Telefónica Deutschland is relying on state-of-the-art microwave radio as a supplement to the fiber optic connection of mobile stations.

Driven by the 5G network rollout and Corona-related contact restrictions, German mobile communications is producing new records in telephony and data usage: the O₂ network breaks the 2 billion gigabyte barrier in data consumption per year for the first time. O₂ customers sent more mobile data through the network than ever before in the last eleven months from January to early December 2021.

The O₂ network has achieved the best result in the history of Telefónica / O₂ in the renowned connect network test. The trade magazine again awarded the O₂ network the grade "very good" this year for the second time.

In cooperation with O₂, Sky Sport will also present the top match in the german Liqui Moly Handball premier league between the SG Flensburg-Handewitt and Füchse Berlin on 10 November via O₂ high-end 5G network. Thanks to flexible professional and Samsung smartphone cameras, the match will be followed up close on O₂ super-fast 5G network and broadcast live on the Internet, among other things. In addition to the classic TV broadcast, the match will be available to all fans via stream on skysport.de and the Sky Sport YouTube channel.

In SMARTPHONE magazine's major mobile network test, the O₂ network secured the grade "very good" for the first time this year. Due to the latest expansion successes and enormous increase in network quality, the O₂ network also moves up to second place among the best German mobile network providers. The O₂ network impressed in the test with strong performance in cities.

For the first time, O₂ is using an innovative "all in one" mobile communications antenna in its 5G network that supports all frequency bands and mobile communications standards. Currently, for example, network operators have to install additional 5G antennas to existing antenna systems on rooftops and cell towers for the 5G network rollout on 3.6 GHz. The new "all-in-one" antennas significantly simplify such upgrades and conversions of mobile network sites. They also reduce the space required as well as the overall weight of the setups and cut operating costs by around 30 percent.

One year after the 5G launch, Telefónica Deutschland / O₂ confirms its expansion plans for the latest mobile communications standard: the O₂ network will cover over 50 percent of the German population with 5G by the end of 2022. The company is also on track for the end of 2021 and continues to target coverage of over 30 percent. The basis for this is the high investment programme with a volume of around four billion euros until the end of 2022. In the expansion of the new mobile technology, the focus is on so-called "pure 5G" via the most powerful 3.6 GHz frequency. The 3,000th 3.6 GHz antenna just went live in the O₂ 5G network. Meanwhile, Telefónica Deutschland / O₂ is installing around 180 of these 5G antennas in the network every week, tendency further increasing. The company is expanding 5G twice as fast overall compared to 4G and is fully on track to supply all of Germany with 5G by the end of 2025.

Today, Telefónica Tech and Alias Robotics, a company specialising in cyber security for robots, have inaugurated the world's first laboratory dedicated exclusively to innovation in cyber security for robots, at the Wayra Innovation Hub in Munich.

O₂ has become the first German mobile network operator to successfully make a voice call purely over its 5G Live network. The technological innovation Voice over New Radio (VoNR) makes voice telephony in the 5G network possible in the first place. To date, voice calls in all German mobile networks still run via predecessor technologies.

Telefónica and NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701) announced today that they have entered an agreement to conduct Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) pre-commercial trials in Telefonica’s four core global markets: Spain, Germany, the UK and Brazil.

World premiere in Munich: On the occasion of the IAA Mobility, Telefónica Deutschland/O₂ demonstrates the possibilities that 5G technology has to offer for the future of mobility as part of the "O₂ 5G Race Days". Via the public O₂ 5G network, anyone of interest will be able to control racing cars in real time over a racetrack – anywhere across the world and from wherever 5G is available. A 60 meter race track, 6 model cars, 6 Samsung smartphones and a powerful 5G network - for their demonstration, O₂ has set up the race track in the 5G Tech Lab of its Innovation Hub Wayra in the heart of Munich. There, model racers of the startup VROMBR will be controlled via the 5G network for the first time worldwide. Due to its superior technical properties - particularly the exceptionally short response times of currently already 10 to 20 milliseconds - the 5G mobile communications standard makes it possible for control commands to be transmitted from smartphone to automobile in real time.

Mobile analytics company Opensignal awards O₂'s network as the fastest 5G network in Germany in terms of the download speed category. According to the latest industry report on the quality of 5G mobile networks in Germany, O₂ customers experienced significantly faster download speeds than customers in the 5G networks of competitors, with an average of 131.4 Mbit/s.

Telefónica Deutschland / O₂ is accelerating the shutdown of its 3G network in various regions of Germany. Instead of the originally planned implementation by the end of the year, the company will now convert the majority of 3G sites as early as September and carry out the last large-scale shutdowns by mid-November. The company began shutting down the 3G network in individual regions on July 1.

As a partner of Messe München, Telefónica Deutschland / O₂ is setting up comprehensive 5G high-performance mobile communications coverage at the trade fair grounds and for the adjacent A94 motorway. Just in time for the IAA MOBILITY from 7-12 September in Munich, the trade fair in the Bavarian capital is thus also launching into the 5G era.

Telefónica Deutschland / O₂, in cooperation with the energy provider Mainova, has put Hesse's first smart 5G street light into operation in Frankfurt am Main.

The rapid network expansion of Telefónica Deutschland / O₂ is making itself felt in a significantly better network quality and thus also in a strong increase in data usage by customers. The company's approximately 44 million customers are sending more and more mobile data through the nationwide O₂ mobile network. This is mainly due to the increasing popularity of music and video streaming as well as sharing photos and videos on social media or via messaging apps such as WhatsApp. In the past six months alone, the O₂ network transported around 1 billion gigabytes of data volume - an all-time high in Germany's mobile networks. This means that data usage in the O₂ network has doubled in a period of only two years.

O₂ has started the 5G expansion turbo: In the O₂ 5G network, almost 2,000 5G antennas in around 80 cities are already transmitting on the high-performance 3.6 GHz frequency specially designated for 5G. O₂ customers thus receive higher speeds, additional network capacities and thus an optimal network experience overall. Telefónica Deutschland CEO Markus Haas talked about the current progress of the network expansion offensive and the benefits of 5G for consumers and the economy on the occasion of a "5G theme day" with the news channel ntv (ntv Telebörse on July 2, 9 a.m.). The special feature: For the first time, the interview was broadcasted in real time to the ntv studio via O₂'s own 5G network in Munich.

Telefónica Deutschland / O₂ starts the future of mobile gaming: for the first time, the provider has brought modern virtual reality (VR) games to life via its new O₂ 5G standalone live mobile network. During the premiere in Munich, O₂ showed the game Half Life Alyx, which was named VR Game of the Year 2020 several times. Here, O₂ is working with its partners Ericsson and NVIDIA. Compared to normal computer games, which are shown on a monitor or smartphone display, virtual reality gaming uses VR glasses to immerse players in an interactive 3D environment in which they can look around and move freely. Mobile virtual reality gaming is therefore considered a very demanding digital application that requires extremely short latencies, fast data throughput rates, and very high reliability, which de facto only 5G Standalone can offer in mobile communications. This is the final expansion stage of the mobile communications standard, in which 5G operates completely decoupled from the existing 4G standard.

The O₂ brand is expanding the range of its 5G-capable mobile tariffs. From July 6, all new and existing customers will be able to use the latest mobile communications standard with any of the O₂ Free Unlimited tariffs or a volume tariff from the O₂ Free M onwards. This means that 5G tariffs are available from O₂ from €29.99 per month. When taking out a new contract for one of these tariffs, 5G will automatically be included for O₂ customers, existing customers can book the free "5G access" package¹.

Telefónica Deutschland / O₂ put its 1,500th 5G antenna into operation in the O₂ network. The company has thus achieved an important intermediate step in its ambitious 5G network expansion program. All 1,500 5G antennas in the O₂ network transmit over the powerful 3.6 GHz frequency, which already offers O₂ customers in 60 cities particularly high data transmission rates, extremely short response times and thus an optimal network experience. Exactly two years ago, the telecommunications provider purchased the frequencies at auction from the German Federal Network Agency. Now Telefónica Deutschland / O₂ is expanding its network across Germany with these frequencies on a prioritized basis. This year, the company will further accelerate its 5G rollout and provide more and more cities and regions with 5G.

Starting 1 July, Telefónica Deutschland / O₂ will begin the large-scale shutdown of its 3G network. The resources previously required for 3G will make way for the significantly more powerful 4G network by the end of the year. To this end, the telecommunications provider will use the frequencies of the currently around 16,000 3G transmitters on 2,100 MHz for 4G in the future. O₂ customers as well as customers of Telefónica Deutschland's other own and partner brands will thus benefit from an even better network experience. Compared to 3G, 4G offers customers additional network capacities, higher surfing speeds and significantly shorter response times for mobile data usage. For all O₂ customers still using a device limited to 3G, O₂ is providing attractive offers for new devices.

Telefónica Deutschland and 1&1 Drillisch have agreed upon the long-term stipulations of their future cooperation in a National Roaming Agreement (NRA) and signed a corresponding contract on 21 May 2021. With the conclusion of the NRA and as part of the overall agreement, the remaining ongoing price reviews initiated by 1&1 Drillisch will no longer be pursued.