MWC 2019: 5G is Getting Real in 2019

Deutsche Telekom is showing both high-performance networks and digital 5G applications at MWC19 in Barcelona. "5G is getting real in 2019," says Claudia Nemat, Board Member for Technology and Innovation at Deutsche Telekom. "5G will unleash its full power where many people come together or many machines interact with each other: In cities, villages, stadiums, concerts, universities, administrations, factories.

The first 150 live 5G antennas are already operating across Deutsche Telekom’s European networks in the first quarter of 2019. The company is rigorously testing the new standard in test fields in six countries. Telekom is currently testing 5G in Austria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Poland and the Netherlands. The antennas will transmit data over the 5G network in the first quarter. They are based entirely on the future 5G standard 5G New Radio (5G NR).

With 5G, networks can be tailored to individual customer needs. At the MWC press conference, Deutsche Telekom and technology company OSRAM put the first campus network into operation. The network is initially based on LTE. In a second step, 5G will follow. A campus network covers mobile communications for a defined area and for specific applications.

A central promise of 5G is to enable very low latencies. This distinguishes the new standard from earlier mobile radio standards. Edge computing enables ultra-low response times. The computing power is shifted to the "edge" of the network. Gamers will also benefit from the low 5G network latency and the extremely high data rate.

In addition to almost all consumer data, up to 80 percent of all industry data is currently processed on non-European servers. More and more European companies see this as a major challenge for the future. T-Systems has developed a marketplace for the secure exchange of data: The Data Intelligence Hub. With this solution, data remains under the control of its owner at all times, not the platform that manages it.