Increase in energy bills in Europe may force telecoms operators to delay plans for 5G rollout, Aldo Bisio, head of Vodafone Italy operations, said.

“To pay energy bills, I don’t see other solutions but to postpone investments,” Aldo Bisio said during an industry event.

Europe is behind the United States and Asia in 5G mobile network rollout. North America had 82 million 5G connections by the end of Q1 2022, which is an addition of 12 million 5G connections for the quarter – a gain of 17.7 percent over Q4 2021. North America is expected to 131 million 5G connections by the end of 2022, according to 5G Americas.

The total number of 5G subscriptions grew by 70 million during the first quarter of 2022, lifting the total to 690 million. 218 communications service providers have launched commercial 5G services and 24 have launched 5G standalone (SA) networks, Ericsson Mobility Report said.

Aldo Bisio warned that higher energy costs leading to a delay in investments would further widen the gap.

Power bills are forecast to rise to around £3,500 (€4,136) a year for most British households, according to analysts.

Italy has approved a new aid package worth around €17 billion to help shield firms and families from surging energy costs and rising consumer prices. Italy aims to tax companies profiting from higher energy prices and is promoting a cap on gas prices at a European level to help contain price spikes.