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Germany is expected to rollout at-scale 5G network services in 2020
Germany’s telecoms regulator, the Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA), has finished clearing the airwaves in its 700MHz spectrum range, leaving the block free for use in the country’s 5G rollout programmes next year.
The 700MHz band had previously been used for terrestrial television services, however, those services have now been migrated to different frequencies.
Speaking at an event in Bonn, BNetzA president, Jochen Homann, said that the release of the 700MHz spectrum band would help Germany’s mobile network operators offer a more comprehensive service.
“The additional frequencies are now available nationwide for mobile network operators to improve their coverage, especially in rural areas,” he said.
Germany’s mobile network operators have been critical of the minimum service obligations that were attached to spectrum auctioned earlier this year. The 700MHz band spectrum is particularly suitable for use in hard to reach, rural locations because of its comparatively long transmission range, when compared to higher band frequencies, and could help the country’s MNOs deliver on their minimum coverage obligations.
EU member states are obliged to free up the 700MHz band spectrum for 5G usage by the end of June 2020.
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