This will be the first time that LTE will be available in German cities, with the technology previously only functional in rural areas.
Cologne's LTE network will use the 1.8GHz band with a downlink speed of up to 100Mbps and base stations being connected by 120km of fibre cable in the greater area of the city.
Deutsche Telekom CTO Bruno Jacobfeuerborn has played down customer expectations of 100Mbps access speeds, and set the standard at 10Mbps for the immediate future, according to local media reports.
"I think this is a very good test case for the viability of LTE to deliver the services that people have been arguing for," said Terry Norman, principal analyst at Analysys Mason. "It will see if in a developed country with a ubiquitous network they can provide a quality of service to attract customers to pay premium prices."
Deutsche Telekom plans to expand to Germany's major cities throughout 2011, with service trials starting this month in Munich, Frankfurt and Munster. Customers will have access to 2G, HSPA and LTE networks through a USB modem offered by the company.
Prior to this announcement, rival German operators have been concentrating on connecting areas where there was limited coverage as part of a spectrum auction provision.
Norman added: “It’s not entirely clear whether there is the end-user demand for these service. If there is, other operators will very quickly start to play catch up but I think they will be cautious and stand back to see what happens.”
