Europe Not Keeping Up with U.S., Parts of Asia on 5G Adoption

5G is growing in Europe, but the region is falling behind parts of the Americas and Asia, a GSMA official said during a Mobile World Live webinar Monday. Europe is “lagging in terms of customers willing to upgrade to 5G,” said Radhika Gupta, GSMA Intelligence head-data acquisition.

About 50% of the more than 250 5G launches worldwide are coming from Europe, Gupta said. Adoption numbers are more “disappointing,” at under 12% based on the latest data, she said. “It’s not looking great in terms of adoption numbers,” she said. Some countries, including the U.S., are, closer to 50%, she said. That’s a “stark difference,” she said.

Different regions of Europe are similar in adoption rates, Gupta said. The top performers in Europe -- the U.K., Germany and Switzerland -- are at around 30%, she said. Adoption lags behind coverage, she said. 5G is available for 60% of POPs Europe-wide, 99% of POPs in Switzerland and 95% in Germany, despite their modest adoption rates, she said. The overall coverage is lower in nations with higher adoption rates than Europe, including the U.S., South Korea and China, she said.

Some European countries have high coverage but not customer interest in 5G, the tariffs, devices or ecosystem to encourage higher adoption rates, Gupta said. Some 40% of European respondents in a recent survey expressed doubt about upgrading to 5G, she said.

Falling behind other regions on 5G reduces overall European competitiveness globally and means slower economic growth, said consultant Ronald van Loon, CEO of Intelligent World. There could be deterred investment, “innovation stagnation, missed opportunities in different sectors and a potential increase in unemployment,” he said: "The cost of missing out is quite big, but it’s hard to quantify.”

If consumers don’t see reasons for wanting 5G, demand stalls, van Loon said. If people “see the use cases I think that will help tremendously,” he said. Among compelling use cases are the metaverse and virtual reality, 5G streaming and improved sports viewing experiences, he said. 5G healthcare apps are also attractive to consumers, he said. “The use cases will drive demand,” he said.

Shenzhen, China, shows how some areas outside Europe are making a commitment to 5G, van Loon said. Shenzhen aims to add 10,000 new 5G base stations this year on top of the 64,000 in place, he said. “The city is really eager to revolutionize the smart factories, the IoT applications,” he said.

5G build out is more than just carrier networks, with 70,000 private networks already launched worldwide, van Loon said.

Gupta said the importance of 5G and connectivity in the post COVID-19-pandemic era is undeniable. “It’s almost like a basic necessity and utility today,” she said. Connectivity “kept everyone sane in the pandemic,” she said.

The webinar also explored whether enough spectrum is available for 5G. “Will there ever be sufficient spectrum?” Gupta asked. No wireless provider will ever say “I have sufficient spectrum,” she said. European countries have 600-700 MHz of mid-band available for 5G now, she said. Every nation will ultimately need 2 GHz of mid-band by 2030 to enable citywide 5G applications, she said. “There’s a huge gap that needs to be covered in the coming years,” she said.

CTIA renewed its attack on the citizens broadband radio service as the sharing model of the future, saying Monday new “drive test” data shows CBRS spectrum is “sparsely deployed and using only a fraction of available bandwidth, in sharp contrast to C-Band spectrum, which is widely deployed.” CTIA released a report last year questioning the viability of CBRS and stressing the importance of exclusive-use licenses (see 2211140062). The DOD is wrapping up a report on the 3.1 GHz band, a key target for industry for 5G.

“Recent drive tests commissioned by CTIA in eight U.S. cities have found that low-power CBRS spectrum continues to be sparsely used, a striking contrast to licensed C-Band spectrum, which is widely deployed just a year after the band was opened for commercial use,” blogged Doug Brake, CTIA assistant vice president-policy communications: “This real-world evidence reinforces that the C-Band structure -- full-power, licensed spectrum -- provides a superior model to quickly put spectrum to use to the benefit of American consumers and enterprises.”