Vodafone Germany has announced the activation of its 5G standalone (SA) network on more than half of the country's railway lines, or 15,000 kilometers.
The operator is on track to be the first in the country to deploy large-scale 5G SA networks on Germany's intercity train routes.
In April of last year, the operator teamed up with Deutsche Bahn, Germany's leading railway operator, to fill any remaining gaps in Vodafone's network on railway routes across the country. The collaboration aims to provide large-scale SA 5G along routes connecting the country's major cities to Deutsche Bahn's busiest routes by 2025.
So far, over 1,800 of the country's 3,250 train stations now have 5G coverage, with over 600 of them having indoor 5G coverage.
Since the start of the year, the company has also built 225 new mobile sites on railway lines to strengthen long-distance train routes by closing "dead spots."
“Especially on trains, it is notoriously difficult to provide good and reliable network coverage for passengers,” said Tanja Richter, Vodafone Germany’s network director. “Thanks to the new buildings and the numerous modernization measures on the existing antennas, we were able to noticeably improve the mobile phone coverage for rail passengers and commuters.”
According to Richter, there is still a lot of work to be done before all railway routes can have a fast and stable connection.
