Vodafone is including Samsung as a 3rd O-RAN companion, alongside current suppliers, with Wismar set to develop into the nation’s first O-RAN metropolis
In sum – what to know:
Community growth at scale – Vodafone plans 10,600 tasks in 2026, together with new towers, 5G upgrades and capability expansions throughout cities and rural areas.
O-RAN strikes into manufacturing – Germany’s largest O-RAN rollout launches this spring, with Samsung added as a 3rd provider and Wismar named the primary O-RAN metropolis.
Rising demand drives urgency – Cell knowledge site visitors is already up 40% year-on-year, reinforcing the necessity for greater capability and denser 5G protection.
German provider Vodafone has kicked off its 2026 cell community growth program, combining large-scale infrastructure upgrades with the nation’s greatest Open RAN (O-RAN) deployment to this point. The initiative goals to enhance protection, capability and efficiency throughout each city and rural areas.
The growth begins in Bavaria’s Higher Palatinate area, the place seven new cell base stations round Grafenwöhr, Vilseck and Hohenfels are bringing connectivity to beforehand underserved areas. Vodafone says this marks the start line of a broader nationwide rollout deliberate for the 12 months forward.
“This 12 months, we’re making our cell community even higher for tens of millions of cell phone customers. We’re closing protection gaps, activating 5G for much more folks, and growing the ability output of 1000’s of cell towers in cities and rural areas. Our purpose: extra community protection, extra Mbps, and extra efficiency for all customers on our community,” mentioned Vodafone Germany CEO Marcel de Groot.
Over the following twelve months, Vodafone plans round 10,600 building and improve tasks. These embody new cell towers, 5G upgrades, capability expansions and modernization measures. The operator will add antennas to many current websites, deploying high-capacity 3.5 GHz gear alongside 700 MHz and 1,800 MHz frequencies. Round 4,300 websites might be upgraded to 5G for the primary time, in response to the European telco.
On account of continued community densification, Vodafone expects 5G to achieve 96% of households on its cell community by the tip of the 12 months. Information demand is already rising sharply, with cell site visitors up 40% within the first weeks of 2026 in contrast with the identical interval final 12 months.
A key a part of the growth is Vodafone’s large-scale adoption of O-RAN. Vodafone mentioned that Germany’s largest O-RAN mission will start this spring, with a number of hundred new and current websites upgraded all year long. The operator is including Samsung as a 3rd O-RAN companion, alongside current suppliers, with Wismar set to develop into the nation’s first O-RAN metropolis.
Vodafone at the moment operates greater than 27,000 cell websites throughout Germany. LTE covers greater than 99% of the inhabitants, whereas 5G availability stands at 94%
In October 2024, Vodafone introduced the activation of its 5G Standalone (5G SA) community nationwide. Vodafone Germany had initially launched its 5G SA community in partnership with Ericsson, Nokia, Qualcomm, and Oppo.
Vodafone’s 5G SA know-how makes use of frequencies within the 700 MHz, 1.8 GHz and three.5 GHz ranges.
