1&1 AG is preparing to become Germany’s next 5G network with a fully virtualized Open RAN, it says in a LinkedIn post. The network, which will include more than 500 edge data centers, underwent a “Friendly User Test” in July under “real world” conditions with actual customers, which exceeded expectations, notes 1&1 AG.
“We have achieved speeds of over 1 gigabit-per-second as well as stable data transfers with about 8 terabytes per customer within 24 hours!” 1&1 wrote. “We are particularly pleased with the extremely fast response time. Under optimal conditions, we achieved latency times of only 3 milliseconds!”
Rakuten built a virtualized cloud-native Open RAN mobile network in Japan in April 2020. Rakuten was selected by 1&1 in February 2022, to build a new 4G and 5G mobile network in Germany. The company is providing the full Rakuten Communications Platform stack of access, core, cloud and operations solutions, as well as its specially developed orchestration software to automate operations on the 1&1 network.
“Together we are building a high-performance mobile network that has extensive automation and agility to fully exploit the potential of 5G,” says Ralph Dommermuth, CEO of 1&1 AG. “Through complete virtualization and the use of standard hardware, we can flexibly combine the best products. This will make us a manufacturer-independent innovation driver in the German and European mobile market.”
1&1 plans to have 140 regional edge data centers, 24 decentralized edge data centers and two core data centers deployed in the fourth quarter of this year, according to TelecomTV. Fixed wireless access to the network should begin by the end of 2022, with mobile access by “as early as next summer.”
By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor
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