European mobile networks lose ground in the global 5G race

With telecom companies struggling to grow profitability, investments aimed at achieving technological leadership are likely to be delayed. However, state-of-the-art networks are important as they drive productivity growth across the broader economy.

As Europe does not yet have the best 5G networks, it risks falling behind Asia, the USA, and the Middle East in the race for technological leadership.

Most Europeans regularly experience 5G mobile connectivity. As illustrated by the figure above, 5G network availability is rapidly becoming standard. According to network testing company Ookla, in most European countries, mobile users often have more access to 5G networks than those based on older technology. Although 5G coverage is lagging in Belgium, Hungary and the UK, 5G connectivity is the norm in Switzerland and Denmark.

This improvement has been achieved through better spectrum availability. Most EU member states have now allocated spectrum for 5G, while in some cases, policy measures have promoted coverage. Another contributor has been network sharing. In Denmark, the 5G roll-out benefited from strict rural coverage obligations, as well as a mobile joint venture between Telia and Telenor that efficiently improved 5G coverage.

However, Hong Kong and South Korea already have a high availability of 5G networks and are therefore well-placed to benefit from new innovative services. We could not find data on China, but 5G standalone networks there are already operational at scale, demonstrating China's technological leadership.

Ookla reports that countries like the UAE, South Korea, Singapore, the USA, and China outpace Europe in 5G speeds, with China implementing 5G networks already for productivity enhancements, according to the chairman of the European Round Table for Industry and chairman of Vodafone, Mr Van Boxmeer.

Nevertheless, we expect to see more commercial use cases of specific 5G standalone (5G SA) capabilities in Europe, as leading operators continue to invest in 5G SA, a cloud native network architecture.

Device ecosystem readiness is also improving. iPhones using iOS 17 and phones running on Android 12 and above support the dynamic selection of the optimal network slice. The availability of devices supports the development of 5G SA. This is key to Europe becoming a frontrunner again.

The standard setter 3GPP has defined three primary service categories for 5G SA: Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communications (URLLC), and Massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC / IoT).

First, a tangible benefit of Enhanced Mobile Broadband capabilities is the available capacity for Fixed Wireless Access (FWA). Trials are also taking place in the media sector, where 5G pilots evaluate business cases involving high-resolution video and AR/VR applications. Enhanced mobile coverage in crowded areas, such as public transport or stadiums, is another benefit of 5G standards.

We’re already seeing the rising significance of low-value subscriptions for IoT-based services. As a lower cost of devices enables more use cases, we see this segment growing. In combination with broader service packages focusing on (factory) logistics, transportation, and location services, this opens up new revenue streams.

We do not yet see many examples of service packages providing private network services. However, 5G often works better than Wi-Fi, while telecom network operators often have more scale. We still expect to see the development of private network use cases in 2026.

In 2025, several countries faced mobile network outages, including Spain, the Netherlands, the UK, and France. Regulators are expected to pay closer attention to reliability, given telecom’s role as critical infrastructure. Still, it will remain a challenge improving speed and reliability while competition makes it difficult to increase prices.