11-16-2017 Markus Jodl

• A thousand additional sites will be built in Bavaria by the end of 2020
• 135 "white spots" to be eliminated, in coordination with the State Ministry of Economic Affairs
• Rural regions will benefit from #LTEeverywhere by the end of 2018

Deutsche Telekom is launching a large-scale mobile communications initiative in Bavaria. An additional one thousand mobile base stations will be built in Germany's southern-most state by the end of 2020. Deutsche Telekom committed to this upgrade during talks with Ilse Aigner, State Minister of Economic Affairs, in Munich. The initiative will focus on expanding coverage along important transportation routes, such as freeways and rail lines, as well as rural areas.

"We have won every important network test in recent years," says Walter Goldenits, head of Technology at Telekom Deutschland. "But our customers' expectations are increasing rapidly. Our mobile communications initiative in Bavaria is a response to this trend."

Deutsche Telekom is also taking an extra step and supporting the Bavarian state government in its efforts to provide mobile coverage to areas that are difficult to reach due to topography and economic factors.

"We are fully aware of the importance of mobile communications for rural areas," says Walter Goldenits. "That's why we've promised the ministry to eliminate one hundred 'white spots' in the next three years, in addition to the thousand planned mobile base stations. We consider this part of our digital responsibility."

A prerequisite for the expansion, however, is that the local municipalities support Deutsche Telekom in realizing the new sites. In addition, Deutsche Telekom plans to eliminate 35 "white spots" through shared use of BOS locations in Bavaria. This possibility was raised by the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs.

Economics Minister Aigner is preparing a funding program to find solutions for the remaining areas, most of which are highly uneconomical. Deutsche Telekom welcomes the idea of municipal support for setting up new locations in the framework of this funding program. The sites will be available for rental by all network operators. The mobile communication providers will take care of the technical equipment and active integration of the locations.

"Our funding program opens up major opportunities for sparsely populated rural areas. Coverage areas that were previously uneconomical can have mobile communications for the first time," says Bavarian Economics Minister Ilse Aigner. "I welcome the improvements by Deutsche Telekom in the quality and availability of mobile communications throughout the state."

Deutsche Telekom's network modernization in Bavaria will continue unchanged in parallel to the mobile communications initiative described above. In the coming months, most locations in Bavaria will be equipped with the latest single RAN technology and LTE 900. The "#LTEeverywhere" program will ensure that by the end of 2018, fast data transfer via LTE will be available wherever only voice telephony is currently possible.