The latest GSMA report has revealed that 5G network rollout in Europe is slow as compared to competitor markets.
Mobile technologies and services contributed 757 billion euros to European GDP in 2021, GSMA said.

BT, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Vodafone, Telefonica, Telecom Italia, among others, are the leading telecom operators in Europe. Operator Capex in Europe is expected to reach $122 billion in 2025 from 2022 — keeping 90 percent on 5G network.

The report said 108 mobile operators in 34 markets across Europe launched commercial 5G services, with consumer take-up continuing to grow steadily, reaching 6 percent of the mobile customer base at the end of June 2022.

Norway leads in adoption of the 5G technology, with 16 percent now using 5G, but positive momentum is also evident in Switzerland (14 percent), Finland (13 percent), the UK (11 percent) and Germany (10 percent).

The report predicts that by 2025, the average adoption of 5G across Europe will hit 44 percent, with the UK and Germany expected to have the highest 5G adoption rates in Europe at 61 percent and 59 percent respectively.

South Korea is expected to hit 73 percent in the same time period, while Japan and the US are likely to achieve 68 percent adoption.

The pace of 5G network coverage expansion across Europe will be a key factor in the transition from 4G to 5G, an important step towards the achievement of Europe’s Digital Decade goals.

Though 5G network coverage in Europe will rise to 70 percent in 2025 from 47 percent in 2021, nearly a third of the population will remain without 5G coverage. This compares to 2 percent or less in South Korea and the US.

The report said stand-alone (SA) 5G networks in Europe are now available in Finland, Germany and Italy. Further deployments are expected in the next few years. The added functionality enabled by 5G SA is key to delivering on the 5G promise of supporting advanced 5G use cases.

European operators are also at the forefront of energy-efficient technologies and the use of renewables, with many already reaching 100 percent renewable electricity use across their footprints, powering their network infrastructure, data centres and other sites.

BT, KPN, Proximus, Swisscom, Telia and Vodafone are among those who have already reached 100% renewable electricity use across their footprints, to power their network infrastructure, data centres and other sites