With 5G we offer customers new perspectives
Welcome to the 5G Age! With 5G, applications can be realized in real time for the first time. Millions of devices are networked with each other. And: The new mobile phone standard provides additional capacities and higher speeds, which further improves the network experience of our O2 customers in mobile data usage. We have extensive network expertise, which we are contributing to the 5G expansion of our O2 network as well as to industrial cooperations.
Our private and business customers benefit equally from 5G in the O2 network as well as from ever new applications. In Industry 4.0, 5G already enables flexible production and logistics processes.
Use the direct entry points to get more information.
Our 5G expansion plans
Our 5G Projects
Our 5g fields of application
Interesting facts about 5G
Our 5G Network
O2 Telefónica creates mobile freedom with 5G
O2 Telefónica is pushing ahead with the expansion of its 5G network in leaps and bounds. With 5G, the company is democratizing high-tech and making the new mobile communications standard available to the mass market. The O2 5G network was launched on October 3, 2020 in the five largest German cities of Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne and Frankfurt. Since then, the company fired up the 5G expansion turbo: In the meantime, the O2 5G network already covers around 95 percent of the German population (as of January 2024). O2 Telefónica brings 5G to more and more cities and especially rural regions. In our 5G network rollout, we are focusing on the frequencies at 3.6 GHz acquired by auction in 2019, which offer customers highest 5G speeds and capacities. This will enable us to offer our customers particularly powerful 5G for the use of their digital applications. In addition, we are also rolling out our 5G network on long-range frequencies (700 MHz; 1800 MHz).
By the end of 2025, we will offer a nationwide 5G network. In order to provide our consumers with nationwide coverage much faster than in the past, we will use a very broad spectrum of technologies. At the same time, we are also continuing to improve our 4G network, already covers around 100 percent of the German population. As a result, more and more O2 customers will be able to enjoy a significantly faster and more powerful O2 network.
5G Campus at BASECAMP Berlin
Telefónica Deutschland / O2 opened the capital's first 5G campus network in March 2020 at its BASECAMP in Berlin-Mitte. The telecommunications provider is the leader in Germany in local 5G solutions. Thanks to the 5G indoor campus solution, BASECAMP will become a "5G campus". The BASECAMP enables all interested politicians, business representatives, founders and consumers to try out and get to know the 5G mobile phone technology.
5G takes O2 business customers to a new level
With O2 Business, Telefónica Deutschland / O2 offers a unique package of mobile and fixed network services as well as excellent service for its business customers. With O2 Business, small and medium-sized companies as well as larger corporations benefit from the advantages of the new 5G mobile phone standard.
In addition, with Narrowband IoT and LTE-M, O2 offers its business customers two further standards for their digital business and the intelligent networking of devices, e.g. for smart metering. Through network slicing, 5G opens up further opportunities for cooperation between Telefónica Deutschland / O2 and its business customers.
Our 5G Projects
Our focus is not on technology, but on the actual benefit for customers and industry. As a digital champion, we are ensuring that Germany is transformed into a fully networked and mobile society. Telefónica Deutschland / O2 is continuously driving forward the 5G expansion for O2 private and business customers as well as for industry.
Development 5G Technology
5G enables flexible production and logistics processes in industry 4.0. Since October 2020, private customers in the O2 network have also benefited from the new 5G standard. In the coming years, numerous new applications will be developed on the basis of 5G. Telefónica Deutschland / O2 has been testing modern 5G applications since 2016. Data rates of up to 1.7 Gbit/s have already been achieved.
5G in industry and production
Telefónica Deutschland / O2 has opened the 5G era for German industry. Together with the equipment supplier Ericsson for Mercedes-Benz Cars in Sindelfingen ("Factory 56"), the company has built the first 5G mobile network for automobile production. An independent campus network ensures the intelligent networking of the car manufacturer's machines and systems.
5G for networked driving
Telefónica Deutschland / O2 can also use 5G for real-time communication in road traffic. As a project partner in the "5G Connected Mobility" project, the company is participating in the A9 motorway test of 5G for networked driving. Together with SEAT, Telefónica demonstrated in Spain the communication between vehicles, pedestrians and objects (V2X) as well as 5G vehicle entertainment.
5G as DSL replacement
DSL via 5G radio - also known as Fixed Wireless Access - is an exciting 5G application field. Telefónica Germany / O2 has successfully tested new fixed wireless connections based on 5G together with Samsung in Hamburg. Customers only need a router and a receiver - there is no faster way to connect to broadband.
5G for broadcasting
Customers want to access video content at any time "on demand" and stream it via their end device. But how would broadcasting over 5G work? Telefónica Germany / O2 has done pioneering work in this area: At the transmitter site in Wendelstein near Rosenheim, a test field for broadcasting over 5G in the frequency range around 700 MHz is operated in the "5G Today" project. The partners in the project - which is managed by the Institut für Rundfunktechnik - include Telefónica Deutschland / O2, Kathrein, Rohde & Schwarz and Bayerischer Rundfunk.
Our 5G areas of application
Mobile Broadband
With 5G, the O2 network can once again achieve significantly higher data transmission rates, especially in conjunction with LTE (4G), which will continue to form the backbone of the network infrastructure. With 5G, customers download large files in seconds. With 5G, they have access to higher usage speeds as well as another high-speed network in addition to LTE. This is where the technical term for enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) comes from.
In addition to standard data services, 5G allows applications such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) to develop their full potential in private and commercial use. It makes no difference whether customers use mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets or will rely on "DSL via radio" - i.e. Fixed Wireless Access - in the future. Telefónica Deutschland has already successfully demonstrated how customers with Fixed Wireless Access will be able to use a high-performance fixed network alternative via the 5G mobile network (mmWave) in the future.
Find out more:
Fixed Wireless Access ("DSL by radio")
Voice and data services
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality
Real-time applications
5G enables ultra-fast latencies of less than 1 millisecond in conjunction with edge computing. For the first time, applications can be implemented in real time. Due to highest reliability and extremely short reaction times, 5G is an important support for highly sensitive, automated production processes as well as for networked driving.
Vehicles, road users and road infrastructure such as traffic lights or bicycles communicate with each other in real time (V2X communication), which can prevent accidents and save lives. In addition, Telefónica Deutschland can bring the "Smart Factory" to life with 5G and drive forward the digitalization of companies. It makes no difference whether companies want to use the nationwide network infrastructure, a separately secured network slice or even a stand-alone campus solution.
Learn more:
Alarm systems
Smart Factory
Networked driving
Internet of Things (Massive IoT)
With modern IoT solutions, Telefónica Deutschland enables automated data transfer between objects and machines. The company offers customers the two network standards Narrowband IoT and LTE-M. With 5G, intelligent networking via the Internet of Things is once again experiencing a much wider range of applications. This is referred to as "Massive IoT" - the networking of millions of devices with each other.
With 5G, not only private end devices such as Smartwatches and Fitness Trackers are networked. Cities are becoming "smart cities", where networked devices help us in our everyday lives. Smart metering supports the automatic reading of electricity, gas and water consumption, for example.
In addition, entire branches of industry such as logistics are benefiting from networking their fleets and vehicles. For individual fields of application, Telefónica Germany / O2 can even provide its customers with a separate network infrastructure by means of Network Slicing, thus reducing the complexity of the network.
Find out more:
Smart City
Smart Energy
Smart Logistics
Networked products
Things to know about 5G
What advantages does 5G offer O2's private and business customers? How exactly do individual industries and sectors of the economy benefit from 5G? Does 5G mean that LTE is still needed? We answer these and many other exciting questions in our knowledge section on the new mobile phone standard.
O2 customers can benefit from 5G even without fibre
5G only works if the mobile sites are connected to fibre? This is not quite correct. Telefónica Deutschland has proved in extensive 5G tests that peak data rates of over 1 Gbit/s can also be transmitted using microwave technology. In the long term, this opens up new perspectives for the company for a rapid nationwide 5G roll-out. At the same time, Telefónica is pushing ahead with the connection of its mobile locations with fast fibre optic lines. This means that the O2 network is well prepared for the future.
More than mobile gaming - 5G benefits for customers
5G is only interesting for gamers - not at all! 5G technology offers significantly more advantages in terms of faster speeds and higher network capacity, from which customers can benefit both as part of society and as individual users. Read more in our blog post.
Digital Health - when data can save lives
Hospitals with 5G coverage, analyzing patient data in real time, operations with medical teams from a distance, lower costs in the healthcare sector: These are just a few of the many aspects with which the new mobile communications standard can set new standards in healthcare - for the benefit of the general public and for the benefit of each individual. We describe some fields of application in our article.