Deutsche Telekom said it has 55,000 5G antennas actively transmitting service to 85% of Germany’s population, as it prepares to upgrade to a 5G standalone core.

The timing of that shift to a 5G standalone core will be determined by the availability of use cases that require 5G unencumbered by a 4G LTE network core, CTO Walter Goldenits explained in a video update last week. 

“If the first use cases are still available in 2021, then 5G standalone will come in 2021. Otherwise we will jump in 2022 at the latest,” he said. “We are always ready now, we say, and we look forward to when the first applications and devices arrive.”

Deutsche Telekom currently operates standalone 5G sites in four German cities, and it continues to test the architecture, Goldenits said. “This technology will unleash the full potential of virtual and augmented reality, mobile gaming, and industrial networking,” he said in a statement.

“However, various development steps are still necessary before the switchover is complete, as added value for our customers is our top priority — and this added value lies in providing high-speed coverage over as large an area as possible,” Goldenits explained.

On that front, the operator said it remains on track to push 5G coverage beyond 90% of the population by year end. Moreover, the operator’s mid-band 5G network, operating in the 3.6 GHz band, is available in at least 60 cities with more than 2,400 antennas deployed to date.

The carrier noted that its 5G standalone core will also allow it to upgrade infrastructure in the core to a cloud-based framework, an achievement that will underpin new applications such as network slicing and edge computing. 

Deutsche Telekom’s also progressing on its fiber footprint expansion, adding 430,000 fiber-to-the-home connections this year to date. The operator said more than 30,000 kilometers of fiber has been laid this year, and it remains on track to add 1.2 million fiber connections before 2022, leading up to 10 million connections by the end of 2024.

Fiber deployments surpassed 85,000 connections last month and activities are ramping up, according to Srini Gopalan, managing director at Deutsche Telekom. “Our ambition is to be the leader in both fixed and mobile communications. To this end, we are investing over $2.36 billion a year in fiber rollout. More than any of our competitors,” he said in a statement. 

The operator also committed to deploy at least 8 million fiber connections in rural areas by 2030.