Telekom Deutschland has deployed a LTE network in the 1.9GHz band in Cologne, its first network with this technology in an urban area in Germany. The operator plans to deploy LTE in another 100 cities throughout Germany during the coming months. Telekom deployed 100 LTE antennas, which are connected via a 120km of fibre deployed over the past twelve months. The network covers the complete inner city of Cologne and offers download speeds up to 100 Mbps with a LTE USB modem which can also be used for GSM/HSPA broadband services in the rest of Germany. The commercial LTE services will be available from 1 July with a special offer for inhabitants of Cologne: web'n'walk Connect XXL free for three months. After that, the monthly fee for the unlimited mobile broadband service is EUR 74.95. Telekom plans to cover more large cities in Germany with LTE and will launch a LTE tariff including 50 GB data for EUR 89.95 per month in the autumn. The operator launched this month a LTE test period for selected business customers in Munich, Frankfurt am Main and Muenster.
At the same time, the operator continues to use its 800 MHz band frequencies to deploy LTE services in rural areas around Germany. The LTE networks in Grossrinderfeld and Cleebronn (both Baden-Wuerttemberg) and Esens, Westerholt, Himbergen, Sprakensehl and Wesendorf (all Lower Saxony) have been activated enabling inhabitants to order Call & Surf Comfort via Funk with internet at up to 100 Mbps and calls to German fixed networks for EUR 39.95 per month (EUR 33.57 for businesses).
