Industry News
Is Europe lagging far behind in the field of 5G SA?
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Author : JIUZHOU
Update time : 2025-02-28 11:35:24
The latest industry report shows that Europe is facing big challenges with 5G standalone (SA) technology. It lags behind big economies like China and the United States. There are also increasing development gaps among its member states.
A new industry report shows that Europe is facing big challenges with 5G standalone (SA) technology. This is happening as the European Commission aims to build top-quality mobile network infrastructure.
The report analyzed global network data from the fourth quarter of 2024. It found that China has the highest 5G SA network coverage at 80%. India follows with 52%, and the United States has 24%. Europe's overall coverage is only 2%, placing it last among major economies.
In terms of key performance indicators, the median download speed of European users' 5G SA network is 221.17Mbps, The speed is much lower than 384.42 Mbps in the Americas.
It is also behind developed countries in Asia-Pacific, which have 237.04 Mbps. Emerging markets have speeds of 259.73 Mbps.
"The single spectrum strategy and the lack of investment willingness of operators are the main reasons for Europe's backwardness." The main analyst of the report noted that Europe relies too much on the 3.5GHz mid-band. This is compared to other regions that use a multi-band strategy. Europe has also made slow progress in building 5G core networks.
- Markets with four operators have performed well.
- Examples include Germany, the United Kingdom, and Spain. These countries have successfully promoted the coordinated deployment of multiple operators through tax incentive policies and coverage obligations. Greece leads Europe with a download speed of 547.52Mbps, while Spain and Austria have made breakthroughs in rural coverage based on the 700MHz band.
The gap between technical advantages and actual benefits
The study shows that the performance improvement brought by 5G SA technology has initially emerged. The latency of European 5G standalone networks is about 20% lower than non-standalone networks.
The Chinese market has improved a lot. Latency and download speed have been optimized by 20% and 84%, respectively.
Innovative breakthrough in business models
Top global companies are under pressure to increase profits. They are investigating alternative methods to make money. One strategy is to rebuild 5G core networks.
US companies are working hard to create network slicing services for businesses. Japan is starting tiered rate packages. South Korea is testing new applications like cloud gaming.
"Europe requires both policy and market incentives." The report says that regulators should improve how they allocate spectrum.
They should also set technical standards for different industries. Finally, they should encourage operators to create quality-tiered services using network slicing. As the 6G research and development cycle gets closer, understanding 5G SA technology will be crucial. This will be a key factor in deciding how competitive Europe's digital economy will be.
A new industry report shows that Europe is facing big challenges with 5G standalone (SA) technology. This is happening as the European Commission aims to build top-quality mobile network infrastructure.
The report analyzed global network data from the fourth quarter of 2024. It found that China has the highest 5G SA network coverage at 80%. India follows with 52%, and the United States has 24%. Europe's overall coverage is only 2%, placing it last among major economies.
In terms of key performance indicators, the median download speed of European users' 5G SA network is 221.17Mbps, The speed is much lower than 384.42 Mbps in the Americas.
It is also behind developed countries in Asia-Pacific, which have 237.04 Mbps. Emerging markets have speeds of 259.73 Mbps.
"The single spectrum strategy and the lack of investment willingness of operators are the main reasons for Europe's backwardness." The main analyst of the report noted that Europe relies too much on the 3.5GHz mid-band. This is compared to other regions that use a multi-band strategy. Europe has also made slow progress in building 5G core networks.
- Markets with four operators have performed well.
- Examples include Germany, the United Kingdom, and Spain. These countries have successfully promoted the coordinated deployment of multiple operators through tax incentive policies and coverage obligations. Greece leads Europe with a download speed of 547.52Mbps, while Spain and Austria have made breakthroughs in rural coverage based on the 700MHz band.
The gap between technical advantages and actual benefits
The study shows that the performance improvement brought by 5G SA technology has initially emerged. The latency of European 5G standalone networks is about 20% lower than non-standalone networks.
The Chinese market has improved a lot. Latency and download speed have been optimized by 20% and 84%, respectively.
Innovative breakthrough in business models
Top global companies are under pressure to increase profits. They are investigating alternative methods to make money. One strategy is to rebuild 5G core networks.
US companies are working hard to create network slicing services for businesses. Japan is starting tiered rate packages. South Korea is testing new applications like cloud gaming.
"Europe requires both policy and market incentives." The report says that regulators should improve how they allocate spectrum.
They should also set technical standards for different industries. Finally, they should encourage operators to create quality-tiered services using network slicing. As the 6G research and development cycle gets closer, understanding 5G SA technology will be crucial. This will be a key factor in deciding how competitive Europe's digital economy will be.
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