Editing E-Plus (section)

== Network ==
=== First GSM license ===
The company was awarded Germany's first DCS-1800 (later renamed [[GSM1800|GSM-1800]], also known as E-Netz ([[:de:E-Netz|de]]; ''lit. E-Network'') in Germany) license in 1993. One term of the [[licence]] was that no further [[Mobile network operator]] could be started within 3 years of the start of the network.

The network started operation as a "metropolitan" network, with coverage only in the biggest cities, in 1994. The coverage area was expanded rapidly, but for years the network's image was hampered by the view that its coverage was lacking. As a countermeasure, [[voicemail]] retrieval was free of charge for the first of years of operation, and calls were billed in six-second increments (in contrast to the one-minute increments of the other networks); after [[Short message service|text messaging]] was introduced, it too was free for some time.

E-Plus was the second network in Germany to offer prepaid tariffs to its customers (after T-Mobile's XtraCard) and later introduced [[High-Speed Circuit-Switched Data|HSCSD]], which boosts data rates on [[Global System for Mobile Communications|GSM]] networks to analogue modem speed levels. Shortly after that, E-Plus upgraded its network to support [[General Packet Radio Service|GPRS]]. They now also operate a [[3G]] [[Universal Mobile Telecommunications System|UMTS]] network.

=== Developments since 2006 ===
In February 2006, after the [[EGSM900]]-band, which was in military use before, had become available in late 2005, the German regulation authority ''[[Federal Network Agency]]'' assigned two 2 x 5&nbsp;MHz channels to E-Plus and [[O2 Germany]]. In return, E-Plus and [[O2 Germany]] had to give up some [[GSM1800]] frequencies to two competitive operators [[T-Mobile International AG|T-Mobile]] and [[Vodafone]]. The first [[EGSM900]]-[[base station]]s ([[cell site]]s) started operation in April 2006. In March 2007 E-Plus outsourced deployment, management and maintenance of its network to [[Alcatel-Lucent]] and thereby transferred 750 employees to the latter company.

E-Plus provides network access to numerous [[Mobile virtual network operator|virtual operators]], such as [[Base (mobile telephony provider)|Base]], [[Blau Mobilfunk]], [[Aldi|ALDI Talk]], [[Simyo]], [[Viva (TV station)|VIVA]], [[Jamba!|JambaSIM]]. It also owns and operates AY YILDIZ, a mobile brand aimed at the [[Turks in Germany]], offering affordable calls to [[Turkey]] and roaming in Turkish networks.

E-Plus was the first company to introduce [[i-mode]] in Germany.

At the end of February 2014, E-Plus and [[ZTE]] announced that ZTE would take over Managed Services of E-Plus.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cellular-news.com/story/64647.php |title=ZTE Takes Over Managed Services for Germany's E-Plus |publisher=cellular-news |date=2014-02-26 |accessdate=2014-03-05}}</ref>

On March 5. 2014, E-Plus started commercial LTE service in [[Berlin]], [[Leipzig]] and [[Nuremberg]] by using 10&nbsp;MHz out possible of 20&nbsp;MHz bandwidth of the 1800&nbsp;MHz frequency.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.teltarif.de/e-plus-base-lte-start/news/54731.html |title=E-Plus: Ab sofort LTE für alle Kunden ohne Aufpreis nutzbar |language=German |publisher=teltarif.de |date=2014-03-05 | accessdate=2014-03-05}}</ref>

On March 12. 2014, E-Plus announced the launch of [[Wideband audio|HD Voice]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://eplus-gruppe.de/brillanter-klang-e-plus-startet-hd-voice/ |title=Brillanter Klang: E-Plus startet HD Voice |language=German |publisher=E-Plus Gruppe |date=2014-03-12 |accessdate=2014-03-12 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141101225636/http://eplus-gruppe.de/brillanter-klang-e-plus-startet-hd-voice/ |archivedate=2014-11-01 }}</ref>

On July 1. 2016, LTE was shut down by its new owner Telefónica Germany.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.teltarif.de/e-plus-lte-abschaltung/news/64166.html |title=E-Plus: LTE von E-Plus: Telefónica schaltet Netz sukzessive ab |language=German |publisher=teltarif.de |date=2016-07-03 |accessdate=2016-01-02}}</ref>