Today (7 September) marks the launch of Denmark’s first 5G network, which is expected to reach up to 80% of the population by the end of this month.
Deployed by TDC and Ericsson, it will initially be available in Copenhagen, Odense, Aarhus and Helsingør, and will be extended to more than 90% of the population by 2020-end. Ericsson said this “continuing rapid roll out” puts the project around three months ahead of deadline.
Andreas Pfisterer, CEO, TDC NET, said: “I am happy and proud that we have so quickly fulfilled our ambitions to open up for 5G coverage at a national level and provide access to particularly fast speeds in the centre of Copenhagen, Odense, Aarhus and Helsingør.
“The opening is important at a time when we more than ever need strong infrastructure to handle the consumption of mobile data, which is growing by up to 40% per year.”
To date, Ericsson’s 5G partnership with TDC Denmark has included RAN products and solutions from Ericsson Radio System and core solutions from Ericsson’s 5G Core portfolio.
The Swedish manufacturer currently has 108 commercial 5G agreements and contracts with CSPs, of which 58 are publicly announced 5G deals, including 59 live commercial 5G networks.
Jenny Lindqvist, head of Northern and Central Europe at Ericsson, added: “We have worked very closely with TDC to rapidly meet their 5G deployment needs. 5G will deliver huge benefits for both consumers and industries in Denmark.”
She adds: “Our Innovation Hub – a joint TDC and Ericsson team driving innovation and new business opportunities related to 5G – will play an important role in this. It has already resulted in deploying the first industrial 5G network in Denmark with Grundfos, as well as developing new opportunities related to 5G within key industries such as manufacturing, healthcare, media and entertainment.”
On 4 September, Telia and Telenor confirmed they would also roll out their joint 5G network at the end of this month. The two share mobile infrastructure and, in addition to conducting pilot tests, have upgraded hardware in recent months.
Services will commence in Copenhagen and Aalborg, with the cities of Aarhus and Odense scheduled to follow.
Thomas Kjærsgaard, head of Telia in Denmark, said: “We want to roll out a nationwide 5G network based on customer and market demand.
“A smart rollout, where our customers will get the most out of both the new 5G network and leverage existing, strong and nationwide 4G network. Our priority is to ensure that we can offer the best network coverage and at the same time enable innovative digital solutions that utilize the technologies and capacity of our network,” he added.
Telia said ongoing network modernisation and 5G rollout will continue “gradually” over the coming years “as the 5G frequencies becomes commercially available”.
