Telekom Deutschland (TD), the domestic fixed and mobile division of German telecoms company Deutsche Telekom, has launched a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network in the city of Cologne. TD has invested EUR5 million (USD7.2 million) in the 4G network, which operates in the 1800MHz band. It comprises 100 LTE antennas connected by 120km of fibre, providing coverage to the entire inner city area, and supports maximum download speeds of 100Mbps with an LTE USB modem, which can also be used for GSM/HSPA mobile broadband services outside of the LTE coverage area. Commercial services will be available from 1 July, with local residents able to subscribe to TD’s ‘web’n’walk Connect XXL’ package for free for the first three months. After that the monthly fee for the service is EUR74.95. TD plans to deploy LTE in a further 100 cities throughout Germany during the coming months and will introduce an LTE tariff including 50GB of data for EUR89.95 per month in the autumn. The company will commence LTE trials with business customers in Munich, Frankfurt and Munster shortly.

According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, TD acquired ten blocks of frequencies in the 800MHz, 1800MHz, 2GHz and 2.6GHz bands in the government’s April/May 2010 spectrum auction for a total of EUR1.3 billion, including two blocks of 2×5MHz spectrum in the 800MHz band. TD is using its 1800MHz and 2.6GHz frequencies to deploy LTE in towns and cities, while its 800MHz spectrum, which is best suited to cover rural areas with mobile broadband internet because of its reach, is being used to roll out LTE in white spots (areas where no broadband access of any kind is currently available).