Deutsche Telekom is making progress on its 5G standalone (SA) network, with more than 5,000 antennas now compatible with the technology in the 3.6 GHz band, although it has yet to announce when it will commercially launch the advanced service. Vodafone Germany has already commercially launched a 5G SA network in the German market and has approximately 4,000 antennas in its network already supporting 5G SA.
5G SA deployments ramped up in 2021 and the first quarter of 2022; 5G SA is now available in more than 20 countries around the world. This confirms operators’ growing commitment to 5G SA to enable new capabilities and services for consumers, businesses and society. The added functionalities enabled by SA are key to delivering on the 5G promise of fully supporting advanced 5G use cases. Support for the full set of 5G use cases helps explain why operators cite SA as the most important 5G network feature for enterprise success, based on GSMA Intelligence research.