The GSMA and the European Commission recognize Deutsche Telekom as a front-runner in commercial 5G services
26 February 2019, Barcelona: Deutsche Telekom has been announced as the winner of the “European 5G Pioneer Award”, which is part of the GSMA GLOMO Awards. The announcement has been made during a ceremony on the second day of MWC19 in Barcelona.
The European 5G Pioneer Award, presented by the GSMA in cooperation with the European Commission, recognizes an exceptional achievement of a front-runner in preparing for commercial 5G service launch in Europe.
“The winner of the European 5G Pioneer Award illustrates that 5G commercial launch in Europe is within reach”, said Director General of DG CONNECT at the European Commission Roberto Viola. “We hope that leading European actors follow this example to develop 5G ecosystems at scale.”
Deutsche Telekom was one of the five finalists chosen among the best companies who demonstrated their outstanding contribution in fostering cross-sector partnerships and leading the way in deployment of innovative 5G services.
The company was awarded for driving an ecosystem approach towards 5G commercialization. Deutsche Telekom activated the first six cells with 3GPP 5G NR-compliant commercial equipment in May 2018, achieving Europe’s first 5G data connection under real-world conditions. It also opened up the 5G and Edge infrastructure to start-ups and developers for use case prototyping.
The other nominees included:
- Telia Company for “Telia 5G eSports”. Telia Company has been systematically developing and showcasing its 5G eSports services with Nokia, Intel, Asus, and the ENCE professional eSports team, including their live trial at the biggest gaming tournament in Finland (Assembly).
- Swisscom (in partnership with Ericsson) for “Getting 5G Ready for Business”. Swisscom’s 5G network is already live on a test frequency in six cities, expected to become sixty in 2019. The project aims to bring 5G services to consumers and industries alike, by enhancing connectivity, bringing fixed wireless access in areas currently underserved and by increasing automation and digitalisation in the production processes.
- Latvijas Mobilais Telefons for “Home TV delivered over the mobile network”. This smart TV product has already proven itself on the 4G network and is ready for implementation on 5G as soon as it becomes available, making this mobile TV the first ready-to-go 5G use case.
- Vodafone for leading numerous 5G activities in Europe to date, including important milestones like the first 5G NSA live calls, multiple markets Trials and First Office Applications with all main Radio suppliers. Vodafone have extensively deployed 5G in the Milan area, with over 30 use cases with industrial and public sector partners.
This award is one of several in the prestigious ‘Outstanding Achievement’ category in the GLOMO Awards; this category is designed to honour the individuals and companies who have gone above and beyond to contribute positively to the connected digital community.