After a long construction phase, the LTE mobile network is available throughout the entire Berlin subway. This means that all subway routes in Germany are now covered.
According to their own statements, the mobile phone providers in Germany will in future provide their customers with a fast wireless network on all subway routes without major gaps. After years of delays, the expansion of the 4G mobile network (LTE) for the Berlin subway routes has been successfully completed, as announced by the BVG and O2 Telefónica as project leaders in Berlin.
Not only passengers who have a contract with O2 Telefónica will benefit from the network expansion, but also cell phone users who use the Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone networks. With the completion of the subway expansion in Berlin, there is now almost 100 percent LTE network coverage on all subway routes in Germany, it said.
Telefónica took care of network expansion in Dortmund and Berlin. Vodafone was in charge of the project in Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, Essen and Duisburg. Telekom expanded the network in Cologne, Nuremberg and Bochum/Herne. In Hanover, Telekom and Vodafone shared responsibility.
4G network also the basis for free WiFi
Henrik Falk, CEO of BVG, pointed out that smartphones are a constant daily companion for most of the more than one million passengers. “Regardless of whether it’s a private chat or a work email – we all want to be online and at high speed, even in the subway. That’s why the comprehensive high-speed mobile network is an important step towards an even more attractive and modern mobility offer.” At the same time, the powerful 4G network is the basis for the BVG to be able to offer free WiFi in the subway trains in the future.
Matthias Sauder, head of network expansion at O2 Telefónica, said that a total of more than 1,000 kilometers of fiber optics had been laid out for the expansion on the tunnel routes. That would correspond to the distance from Flensburg to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Furthermore, 360 tunnel antennas, 350 repeaters and 30 base stations were installed.
Tanja Richter, the head of technology at Vodafone Germany, referred to the difficult circumstances of network expansion along the subway routes: “Construction can only take place when services are at a standstill – i.e. usually in the night hours from the end of operations to the start of operations. This means that “All of this can only be meticulously planned and implemented once from a single source, one of the three network operators is always the project lead – and helps plan for the other two.”
In a joint press release, Telekom, Vodafone and Telefónica announced further investments in network expansion along the route: “Now it is time to take the next step and make the latest technology available on the routes with 5G,” said Mathias Poeten, head of mobile network at Deutsche Telekom.
Source: Stern
