Not good prospects for German providers: While Telekom, Vodafone and o2 want to build their 5G networks and make them even more powerful, customers are rather disillusioned. Only very few can be enthusiastic about the fast mobile radio standard.
Bitter for o2 and Co: 5G is not yet convincing the Germans
With 5G, the German mobile networks are set to enter a new era. The network operators Vodafone, Telekom and Telefónica/o2 keep outdoing each other with new reports on the development of 5G coverage, application examples for high data rates on the move and suitable contract offers in which 5G is integrated. This Fireworks of promises so far, however, does not seem to have caught on with customers.
Their interest in 5G is reluctant at best. Only 15 percent of respondents said access to 5G is important to them, as an evaluation by Statista shows:
There may be a number of reasons for the reluctance. On the one hand, the number of users who depend on 5G speed will be small. It is not for nothing that Telekom and Co. advertise 5G as a future standard for industrial applications, among other things. If you don’t want to stream your favorite series in 4K quality while travelling, gets along well with 4G.
Spending a lot of time at home during the pandemic could also play a role. It is better to run data-hungry applications in the home network, where they do not attack the data volume. Interest in fiber optic expansion is also low, although Germany is lagging behind in a country comparison.
Alternating 5G and 4G: No picnic for the battery
Ultimately, he should Expansion of the 5G network the most important role play: In its current test, Stiftung Warentest found that 5G is not the standard in Germany – even if a lot is being invested in network expansion.
Manufacturers like Samsung have long relied on 5G support in the mid-range:
In addition, there is the DSS process (Dynamic Spectrum Sharing), in which 5G has often been offered so far. Here 5G and 4G share the frequency ranges. With a corresponding contract and a 5G-enabled smartphone, the cell phone then dials into the 5G network whenever possible. But often over the slower frequencies, making it convenient for users there is no speed advantage – at the same time, the constant change puts more strain on the battery. No wonder that expectations are not overflowing.