The three companies Ericsson, Telefonica Deutschland and Vantage Towers are jointly developing a concept of how a comprehensive 5G mobile communications infrastructure can be set up along the tracks in Germany, as the state-owned company announced. Train passengers should be able to use gigabit transmission rates for their telephone and data connections, and at the same time they should be able to use them for other digitalization efficient transmission technologies are available for railway operations.
According to expert estimates, data rates of up to 5 gigabits per second per train will be necessary between the radio masts on the route and the passing trains by the beginning of the next decade so that travelers on board can experience telephone and data connections in the then usual mobile phone quality. That is a multiple of the data rates possible with today’s LTE technology.
The Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV) is supporting a feasibility study and the practical testing of the technology with around 6.4 million euros, as Deutsche Bahn also announced. The project is an important part of the federal government’s gigabit strategy.
“Our aim is for the train to be a rolling office or living room, in which mobile work, video streaming and phone calls are technically possible with a cell phone,” said Transport and Digital Minister Volker Wissing, according to the announcement. “This high quality can only be achieved with gigabit coverage.”
The project partners want to work out together by the end of 2024 how the high transmission rates that will be necessary in the future can be achieved and how the necessary infrastructure can be set up in a resource-saving manner. As part of the project, a test field is to be created along a ten-kilometer stretch of track in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where ten innovative radio masts of different designs are expected to be set up. Among other things, various designs of radio masts are tested. The project partners are also testing 5G mobile communications on the 3.6 gigahertz frequencies from O2 Telefonica to provide gigabit coverage for rail passengers. The project results should help politicians to design the 5G expansion along the rails and its financing.
The Ericsson share temporarily gained 1.12 percent on the stock exchange in Stockholm to 57.13 SEK. The Telefonica Deutschland share showed itself in XETRA trading at times 0.66 percent higher at 2.60 euros.
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