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Germany : becoming a leading market for 5G applications

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The operators spend €6.5 billion to get in the game

The 5G spectrum allocation that ended in June, underlined three objectives and fixed strict obligations for mobile operators:

•        The winners will have to supply at least 98% of households per state, all federal highways and railways with at least 100 megabits per second (Mbps) by the end of 2022

•        Each operator will have to set up 1,000 5G base stations by the end of 2022, in addition to 500 base stations in unserved rural areas

•        When setting up their networks, operators will have to use multiple vendors for its equipment

Germany raised an impressive €6.5 billion from the sale of the 5G frequencies in the three-month auction however, it also faced some criticism.

The leading concern by network operators was the risks surrounding the auction. They said that the high costs of acquiring a licence would sap their ability to invest in costly network upgrades.

Cybersecurity concerns

Meanwhile for the German government, security concerns remained high. The Bundesnetzagentur, Germany’s telecommunications regulator, clearly stated that all suppliers, including Huawei, would be authorised to participate in the buildout of the superfast 5G network as long as it followed the security requirements imposed by the regulator.

These security requirements are not just covering the 5G, but all networks.

Most important are the following one :

–       The critical components should be certified by the Federal Office for Information Security

–       Regular safety checks will be conducted on networks and system components

–       Like in France, the networks should be equipped using multiple vendors

Supporting project planning

In order to intensify the dialogue with the user industries, the “5G Dialog Forum” was set up in September 2016. It supported the active exchange between the telecommunications sector and vertical industries in order for 5G innovations to emerge. The major topics included: mobility, logistics, energy, industry, agriculture, cultural/creative industries and authorities and organisations with safety and security responsibilities.

Since 2016, close to 20 test beds have been counted by the European 5G observatory with the major telecom operators, together with equipment providers such as Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, Nec, SIAE and Intel, trialling 5G ready applications in real world scenarios.

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