Cologne unveils new 5G-enabled streetlight

A new 5G-enabled streetlight in Cologne has started providing thousands of football fans with better mobile reception for the UEFA European Football Championship.

The combination of lighting mast and mobile radio transmitter from telecommunications provider O2 Telefónica provides light and at the same time 5G and 4G/LTE network connectivity.

“With the 5G street lighting mast, we are offering an even better mobile network at Cologne Cathedral,” said Matthias Sauder, Director of Mobile Access & Transport, O2 Telefónica. “Just in time for the European Football Championship, our customers in Cologne can look forward to additional network capacity. Football is one of the events at which data records are repeatedly broken. Ultimately, we broke the sound barrier of one million gigabytes per hour at the Champions League final.”

The 5G street lighting mast is located behind Cologne Cathedral and the main train station in the middle of one of the large fan miles on Konrad-Adenauer-Ufer. It was installed in partnership with infrastructure specialist 5G Synergiewerk, NetCologne and the energy supplier RheinEnergie.

After the European Championships, the 5G lighting mast will remain permanently in place as a mobile communications location helping to provide improved reception for Cologne’s annual carnival celebration, which attracts around 1.5 million visitors every year.

Ralf Gerbershagen, Managing Director of 5G Synergiewerk, said: “The entire project is a good example of what can be achieved when everyone involved pulls together: we bring telecommunications providers and municipal utilities together to present the urban 5G expansion with innovative networking solutions. In Cologne, we want to continue to drive forward the expansion of 5G lighting masts together with O2 Telefónica.”

Image: 5G Synergiewerk | Udo Ernhuber