Danish operator TDC has announced the commercial launch of its 5G network on 07 September. It began deploying 5G infrastructure from Ericsson on Zealand in October 2019 and now has 2,650 mast positions throughout Denmark. Population coverage will start at 80 percent, rising to 90 percent by the end of 2020.
Initially, 5G service will be available in the centre of Copenhagen, Odense, Aarhus and Helsingor. Customers of the brands TDC Erhverv, YouSee and Telmore will require a 5G subscription and a smartphone or other device that supports the new technology. Later in the year, 5G will become available to mobile customers of its Relatel brand, which primarily serves SMEs.
TDC said the equipment upgrade to 5G was accompanied by an upgrade of its 4G network, too, so that all its customers will notice much faster download and upload speeds and improved video streaming quality.
Andreas Pfisterer, CEO of infrastructure division TDC Net, said the commercial launch of 5G is important at a time when mobile data use is rising by up to 40 percent per year.
The YouSee subscription Fri + Unlimited Data is now listed as 5G-ready, as is the Fri+60 GB subscription. Fri+Unlimited Data costs DKK 299 per month. This subscription includes up to 20 GB roaming in 48 countries, YouSee Musik, ten hours’ of talktime and 100 texts from Denmark to 54 countries, and a free Smart Wear subscription. The Fri+ 60 GB subscription costs DKK 249 monthly but the international service provision is only two hours of calls and 20 texts.
Telmore customers need to log in to their account to find out whether or not their particular subscription includes 5G service. For those that do not, there is the option to bolt on 5G at DKK 29 per month, providing customers subscribe to a package costing at least DKK 149 monthly.
Telmore customers may also sign up to a Play subscription, which includes 5G by default. Play subscriptions range between DKK 169 monthly for unlimited call minutes and 30 GB of data, and DKK 399 a month for unlimited call minutes and unlimited data.
For business customers, the TDC Erhverv subscriptions Professionel and Premium are now marked as 5G-ready. Professionel costs DKK 399 per month for 30 GB of data as well as a range of UC tools, international and roaming services. Premium costs DKK 499 monthly for 100 GB.
