Especially on long-distance journeys, the number of dead spots that exist in this country is noticeable. Plans for the LTE expansion along the railway lines are in the works, passengers will probably have to wait even longer for 5G. For the time being, no Deutsche Bahn long-distance trains are to be equipped with the new mobile communications standard.
This is the result of a response from the Digital and Transport Ministry to a small request from the Union factions, the the Rheinische Post is available. Specifically, the letter from the ministry says: “As part of the cooperation with the mobile network operators, it was agreed not to promote any 5G upgrade of the repeaters at the moment.” This should not only affect Deutsche Bahn. According to the knowledge of the federal government, Flixtrain GmbH is not currently planning to upgrade the cars to 5G either.
CDU digital politician Thomas Jarzombek describes this as “bad news” for train passengers. “This means that the network is not only significantly slower, but areas that are covered with the new frequencies (3.7-3.8 GHz) with modern 5G are dead zones for the old train repeaters,” Jarzombek said in the Rheinische Post.
Mobile radio expansion of the railway is stuck
One of the problems with mobile phone reception on the trains is said to be the window panes. These have an insulating metal layer that enables energy-efficient air conditioning, but also dampens mobile phone signals in addition to thermal radiation. In the case of existing trains, these restrictions would be overcome with repeaters, according to the response from the Ministry of Transport.
It remains unclear why the repeaters in the trains should not be able to handle 5G. As Golem reports, the Intrain mobile radio repeater system from Comlab used by Deutsche Bahn is equipped with 5G technology.
New ICE models are already said to be directly Receive panes from the factory that are permeable to mobile phone signals. Intercity trains are to be retrofitted.
Restrictions on the 900 MHz spectrum make expansion more difficult
The restrictions on the 900 MHz spectrum along the railway lines are also causing difficulties. At the end of December 2022, the frequency spectrum should actually be available for the mobile network operators to improve the LTE network in the trains. However, the Federal Network Agency had postponed this step until the end of 2024. The reason, according to a report by Spiegel: Interference with the GSM-R network of the railways is feared. To date, this uses the 900 MHz frequency spectrum to ensure interference-free railway communication.
Actually, the trains should already be converted. But the technical conversion was delayed and the deadline was also postponed – which both network operators and Deutsche Bahn criticize. The Federal Ministry of Transport is now also referring to this decision. “The BNetzA's decision of November 23, 2022 means that there will still be restrictions on the usability of the 900 MHz frequency range for broadband, public mobile communications until the end of 2024,” writes the Ministry of Transport in the answer.