Vodafone and DT team up to expand rural LTE coverage

Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone have announced that they will both contribute 2,000 LTE sites to a new sharing programme, therefore increasing their combined coverage of rural Germany.

 

This arrangement arose as a solution to rural ‘grey spots’, where one operator has 4G coverage but another does not, leaving customers without much choice. 

 

“Together we can create even more network for Germany – and close grey spots in which Vodafone or Telekom customers have so far had no reception,” said Vodafone Germany CEO Hannes Ametsreiter.

 

Last summer, Germany saw its first 5G spectrum auction, with the regulator mandating licence winners to improve rural coverage as part of the deal. 

 

As a result, Germany has seen a host of network sharing deals, aiming to reduce costs as operators undertake expensive rural coverage programmes. 

 

Indeed, at the end of last year, Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, and Telefonica (O2) agreed to share 6,000 new cell sites to facilitate expanded mobile coverage across rural areas. 

 

“Cooperation is becoming more and more important when it comes to network expansion – regardless of whether it is broadband or mobile communications,” said Deutsche Telekom CEO Dirk Wössner.

 

Deutsche Telekom has also recently signed a FTTH network sharing deal with fibre rival Deutsche Glasfaser, hoping that together they can accelerate Germany’s fibre rollout and bring it up to the standard of its European neighbours.

 

Network sharing deals are not only good for customers, they are also good for the environment, reducing the amount of infrastructure required for the two networks, as well as their power consumption. 

 

The site sharing project is expected to be complete by the end of 2020.