5G only really arrived on the networks this year. Telekom and Vodafone are currently in the middle of the expansion, and O2 started in the second half of the year. In this early phase, it is not about the big promises for the future that many users associate with 5G, such as autonomous driving, smart cities or the edge cloud. The question is, is 5G worthwhile for normal cell phone users? The answer after the measurements that we carried out as part of this year’s network test is: Yes, but.
You have to know that the networks implement 5G in two different forms. There is even 5G on the N78 band at frequencies around 3.6 GHz. This band is exclusively available to 5G and offers enough capacity for very high maximum speeds of up to 1 GBit / s and beyond. However, the range of the frequencies around 3.6 GHz is not high. Depending on the local conditions, the value is between 500 and 1,000 meters. In addition, the network operators have to equip their locations with new hardware or set up new locations. Also means it is a slow process.
The expansion will be faster if 5G can use frequencies on which LTE is already broadcasting. In this case, a software update is often sufficient and the corresponding locations also offer 5G. This technology is called Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS). For mobile phone users, 5G DSS does not yet offer any noteworthy advantages over LTE. He also has to have the right smartphone for it. Our current assessment of 5G DSS may change when 5G is no longer used only as a data channel to accelerate uploads and downloads, but offers its own services. But the expansion of 5G-DSS also brings advantages from which all users benefit indirectly, because the network operators are also expanding the parallel operation of 5G and LTE to frequency bands on which UMTS (2,100 MHz) and DVB-T (700 MHz) were previously ) sparked. Thanks to 5G, there is also more radio spectrum for LTE, which increases the overall capacity of the networks.
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