Telefónica Deutschland commissions a new LTE transmitter every hour

Three questions for Marcus Thurand, Vice President of Implementation & Engineering at Telefónica Deutschland Marcus Thurand's department is among others responsible for the LTE expansion across Germany. In a brief interview, he told us how the company is planning the LTE expansion and how it managed to speed up the project in recent months. Telefónica Deutschland is aiming to expand its network further this year with around 10,000 LTE upgrades. How do you plan a project of such a large scale? We have clear objectives for our network expansion. We want to continue to improve LTE coverage so that our customers can use the O₂ network to get online no matter where they are. We are also offering customers who have our large data packages the opportunity to use even more mobile data. To do that, we need to upgrade the LTE network with additional LTE frequencies in various regions so as to provide higher capacity and speeds. We carefully examine what is needed at each location in each region before formulating specific requirements and starting detailed planning. Although we would like to expand everywhere at the same time if we could, implementation naturally has to take place gradually. However, I think it is plain to see that we are really putting our foot down on the accelerator at the moment. What does setting up an LTE station involve? What sort of challenges does it present? We start by drawing up an initial design for the mobile communications site. This is a bit like an architect's drawing, visually plotting out all the technical components. At the same time, we negotiate with the landlord and the local authorities and obtain the necessary permits from the Federal Network Agency. If any significant changes arise, we also need to review the structural analysis and seek a permit from the relevant construction authority. Only then can we begin the implementation phase. To enable the site to transmit via LTE, we install new equipment and additional antennas there, fit new wiring for the technical systems and, if necessary, provide new air conditioning. One aspect that is often rather challenging is the coordination involved; for example, when we need to apply to use cranes and close roads to install new equipment on rooftops. Everything needs to be right at that moment – timing, permits, equipment, resources and even the weather. Before the LTE station finally goes on air, we set the parameters for it by entering the necessary data and run through a few test scenarios. We use specific optimisations to ensure that antennas are set to the best possible orientations and that the process of passing mobile signals and subscribers to other stations runs smoothly. In doing so, we benefit enormously from technical features such as our self-organising network, which works from just a few parameters to take on automatic neighbourhood planning to make sure that handovers between stations are flawless. Telefónica Deutschland has once again accelerated its LTE expansion significantly relative to last year. How have you managed that? We are focusing entirely on the LTE expansion, which is going very well for us now that the network integration is complete. We have gained a lot of momentum with optimizing our rollout processes dealing with radio. Having previously followed a principle of regular "patch days", when we would import all the necessary technical changes into the network, we now implement them as and when necessary. That means that new LTE stations go on air almost straight away. We have also improved the way we work with our service providers, enabling them to build more quickly and us to spend less time and effort on coordination. That is making our rollout faster, more flexible and more efficient. Thank you very much for talking to us.