PANEL: Should We Be Concerned About Europe’s Laggard Status Regarding 5G SA?

Why It Matters

Europe’s slower, more cautious SA rollout affects its competitiveness for advanced mobile services, private networks and edge/AI use cases, making policy choices on spectrum and operator investment timing critical to economic and industrial outcomes.

Summary

Panellists agreed Europe has lagged global peers on 5G standalone (SA) adoption—UCLA data cited roughly 2% of European speed tests on SA last year versus over 80% in China, 50% in India and 20% in the U.S.—but described the gap as largely pragmatic rather than negligent. Operators are sequencing SA rollouts based on mid‑band spectrum availability, device and carrier aggregation readiness, and commercial monetization plans; delays in auctions (e.g., Netherlands, Poland) and spectrum refarming from 4G have materially slowed diffusion. Some markets and operators (UK, Germany, Sunrise in Switzerland) are accelerating, and panelists emphasized that measured, use‑case driven deployments aim to ensure adequate performance and return on investment. The discussion also highlighted remaining barriers to usage even where SA is live, including device support, tariffs, and ecosystem readiness for enterprise and edge applications.

Original Description

Moderator: Luke Kehoe, Lead Analyst, Ookla

Daniel Dobos, Research Director, Swisscom

Viraj Abhayawardhana, Director – Network Strategy, Liberty Global

Nicola Marziliano, VP International Telco Sales, WindRiver

This session is sponsored by www.windriver.com