Through the accelerated roll-out of its existing 5G network, Vodafone is now the first to offer nationwide 5G. As a result, all Vodafone customers with a suitable device and a 5G subscription can now make use of the latest 5G technology in most of the Netherlands, at no extra cost. In addition to this, Vodafone has acquired important radio spectrum in the recent Multi Band auction. Across the border, Vodafone is already offering 5G roaming to customers in Germany, China and Taiwan. More countries soon to follow.

At the end of April, Vodafone was the first in the Netherlands to launch full 5G via its own GigaNet network. This was directly available in more than half of the Netherlands. The target was to offer coverage in most of the Netherlands by the end of July. This goal was achieved today, which means that more than 80 percent of the Dutch population can now have access to 5G. The current geographical coverage in the Netherlands can be viewed on the5G coverage map.

Adding 5G services to the new spectrum
The Multi Band auction formally ended today with very successful results for Vodafone. During the spectrum auction, Vodafone acquired frequencies in the 700, 1400 and 2100 MHz bands. These bands concern 2 x 10MHz in the 700 MHz band, 15MHz in the 1400 MHz band and 2 x 20 MHz in the 2100 MHz band. Vodafone will use the new spectrum to further deploy 5G mobile services.

The new spectrum licenses have a term of 20 years. Vodafone acquired these spectrum licenses at a cost of nearly € 416 million euros (€ 415.763.924).

Further Expansion on 5G Lead
Marcel de Groot, Director Consumer Market at VodafoneZiggo, is proud that Vodafone can further expand on its 5G lead: "Thanks to the successful roll-out by our technical colleagues, our existing antenna park has been transformed at high speed into an innovative 5G network that covers the whole of the Netherlands. In this way, even more of our customers can experience the improved network performance. At the same time, we have made international roaming agreements so that 5G is also available to Vodafone customers in Germany, China and Taiwan. Australia, New Zealand. Hungary and Turkey will follow soon, and later this year Great Britain, Romania, Ireland, Spain and Italy will follow suit.

First 5G Users are Satisfied
Recently, a survey was held among more than 600 Vodafone 5G users with a Samsung S20/5G smartphones, and a reference group of 4G users with Samsung S10/4G devices. This comparison between the users of two high-end devices provided a good first impression of practical experiences. The results show that more than 90 percent of the S20 users are familiar with 5G. The vast majority of these S20 participants were already enjoying 5G in the recent period. Approximately 20 percent of this S20 group have 'not yet deliberately tested’ 5G or were not yet in the 5G coverage area.

Furthermore, the survey shows that the Net Promoter Score (NPS) - the extent to which customers recommend a product - is significantly higher among 5G users. This is due, among others, to the fact that they experience noticeably better speed, coverage, speech and video when using 5G. Incidentally, the overall network experience of 4G and 5G users is already at a high level. This is due to the fact that the 4G network in the Netherlands is exceptionally good, as evidenced by international comparisons. Customers with 5G have clearer expectations with regard to network performance. The perception of 5G is even slightly more positive among 4G device users than among 5G users. This indicates that many 4G customers are interested in experiencing the next generation.

More 5G Devices and Higher Speed
At Vodafone, customers can choose from an increasing number of 5G devices that support Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS). In addition to the Samsung Galaxy S20 series and Oppo Find X2 Pro, which are already available, the Sony Xperia X1 II is new in the range, including software for use in the Netherlands. Other devices are currently in the test phase and will soon follow, further expanding the range of available 5G devices. Vodafone activated 5G with DSS through its existing masts and available frequencies. This approach is a full form of 5G that meets the specifications of 3GPP release 15. This has been verified and confirmed by the Dutch independent technology research institution, TNO.

Through 5G, customers can currently already achieve peak download speeds of around 650Mbps on the Vodafone network. Using the latest network and device software, 5G download speeds of over 1Gbps have recently been measured in the Vodafone Test Centre. This will soon become available to customers as well and is far above the maximum 350Mbps of the current 4G subscriptions. With a 30 percent shorter response time (latency), 5G offers customers even smoother data traffic through the powerful GigaNet (the joint network of Vodafone and Ziggo).