Germany’s top mobile operators Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone Germany today shared updates about their respective 5G deployment progress and emphasized the use of dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) to provide more expansive coverage.

The race to blanket Germany with 5G got underway last July, and market leader Deutsche Telekom now says its 5G network will reach more than half of the country’s population this year. “We have big plans for 5G and will bring the latest mobile communications standard to large parts of Germany before the end of the year,” CEO Dirk Wössner said in a statement. 

The operator said it is upgrading existing antennas in its network to 5G and implementing DSS to make use of mid-band spectrum previously set aside for 3G and 4G LTE to boost 5G coverage. Deutsche Telekom added that 5G antennas are already live in eight cities and its upgrade program is happening in parallel with the deployment of DSS.

The combined efforts will enable the operator to increase 5G availability in rural areas and help it meet its target of covering 99% of Germany’s population with 5G service by 2025.

Many operators are flocking to DSS because the software can automatically allocate spectrum from multiple bands on the same radio depending on real-time requirements within range of that equipment. It also presents operators with an opportunity to make use of their full spectrum portfolio across multiple generations of cellular technology. 

Deutsche Telekom’s closest competitor Vodafone Germany is also deploying DSS and claims to be the first German operator to use the technology in the 700 MHz band for 5G and 4G services. Vodafone Germany said its 5G network will cover more than 10 million people this year.

The expansive use of DSS in Germany could also offset some costs for the operators, which have bemoaned the high prices they paid for 5G spectrum licenses in an auction last June that totaled $7.4 billion. Vodafone Germany CEO Hannes Ametstreiter described it as “catastrophic” at the time, but German operators had similar grievances in 2000 when spectrum licenses for 3G services reached almost $43 billion.

Germany’s three operators banded together in November 2019 to kickstart an initiative to improve network coverage and combat dead zones throughout the country on a collaborative basis. That effort, which calls for the installation of 6,000 new cell sites, will focus on rural areas, roads, rail, and inland waterway transportation routes. 

5G will also herald the entrance of 1&1 Drillisch, a new operator in Germany, that bid $1.2 billion for 70 megahertz of spectrum in last summer’s auction. That new spectrum won’t be formally allocated until 2021. The 3.6 GHz band will be made available first, followed by the 2 GHz band in 2026. 

Germany’s other operator Telefónica Deutschland last month said it plans to cover the 30 most populated areas of the country with 5G by the end of 2022.

The ascendance of 5G in Germany has also generated some geopolitical drama. Following a pressure campaign by the U.S. government, Germany’s regulators declined to ban Huawei, or any vendors, from participating in the design and buildout of 5G mobile networks. 

Germany’s leaders effectively told the United States to butt out of its internal affairs and dismissed concerns about security and threats that it could limit intelligence sharing with the country if Huawei wasn’t banned. Vodafone Germany and Deutsche Telekom are both using Huawei equipment in their 5G networks.