Munich, 24 September 2020

Telefónica Deutschland heralds 5G era

On 3 October, Telefónica Deutschland will launch the 5G network for its core brand O₂ in the five largest German cities Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt and Cologne. O₂ will provide access to 5G experience for all consumers and a new dimension of digitalisation.

Telefónica Deutschland will launch the 5G network with around 150 sites and will push ahead with the 5G expansion in big steps over the coming months. To this end, Telefónica Deutschland is relying on its 3.6 GHz frequencies auctioned in 2019, offering customers the highest possible 5G speeds and capacities. Telefónica Deutschland will bring 5G to more and more cities and especially to rural areas in a short period of time. As part of its growth-oriented investment programme announced in December 2019 with a focus on the network, Telefónica Deutschland is relying on a wide range of technologies.

O₂ customers will be able to experience 5G quality on the O₂ network from 6 October at no extra cost. 5G is part of all O₂ mobile phone tariffs from 39.99 euros. O₂ thus offers an outstanding value-for-money 5G proposition. O₂ My Handy already offers customers a selection of 5G-enabled smartphones in all price categories which is continuously expanded. There will also be attractive offers for O₂ business customers soon.

Initially, O₂ will offer an industry-standard 5G maximum speed of 300 MBit/s, with which customers can use all applications conveniently. In the future, 5G technology will enable faster data rates up to a top speed of 20 GBit/s. In addition, O₂ will gradually develop the new mobile standard towards real-time communication thanks to faster latency. This will enable applications such as augmented and virtual reality to reach their full potential and enable customers to experience, for example, cloud-based mobile online gaming without delay.

Also, Telefónica Deutschland's 5G network will offer endless opportunities for business and society. 5G gives industry and medium-sized companies new momentum for modern production and logistics processes as well as the Internet of Things ('IOT'). Up to one million devices per square kilometer can be connected with 5G. This enables companies to convert their production to be fully digital and ready for the future.

To simplify the implementation of 5G networks for the industry, Telefónica Deutschland is increasingly focusing on cloud computing and virtualization. With Telefónica Deutschland's cloud-based 5G network, companies will be able to bring their products to market faster and more cost-effectively while increasing their profitability at the same time.

In addition, 5G offers significantly enhanced energy efficiencies. The new mobile standard consumes up to 90% less energy, in a similarl way CO₂ emissions are reduced by a meaningful amount. Data transmission of one hour of video streaming over 5G results in only 5% of the CO₂ emissions of such streaming over the legacy standard 3G.

More information:
Telefónica Deutschland
Investor Relations
Georg-Brauchle-Ring 50
D-80992 Munich
t +49 (0)89 2442-1010
f +49 (0)89 2442-2000
e [email protected]