The achievement is highlighted in the latest 5G Observatory report. By pointing to the arrival of commercial services in Portugal and Lithuania, at the end of 2021, the European Commission body recalls that one of the main goals of the 5G Action Plan was finally achieved.
In all 27 Member States of the European Union, there is at least one operator with a 5G mobile network, making the 5th generation networks reach 49% of the population of the community space. This is the big news highlighted, this week, in the most recent report by the 5G Observatory , a body of the European Commission.
The goal defined in the 5G Action Plan, which has now been achieved, was only possible because Portugal and Lithuania finally made 5th generation commercial offers available. The report highlights that, following the spectrum auction, NOS became , in December 2021, the first operator to launch 5G services in Portugal.
But it is still necessary to remember that Vodafone made the network available shortly afterwards, and MEO did the same on January 1 of this year. And, that same month, 5G also landed in Lithuania through operator Telia, making this country the last member state to launch next-generation networks in the EU.
A total of 112,000 5G base stations were active in the EU as of December last year and 50% of households in the 27 countries were covered with at least a 5th generation network. But compared to other major powers, Europe’s performance lags behind China ‘s , with almost one million base stations installed – eight times more than the EU. South Korea , however, wins this championship with 13 times as many seasons as Europe and 20 times as many as the United States.
5G cross-border corridors
Other advances were also highlighted in this report, such as the fact that 17 Member States are now involved in the preparation of 12 5G cross-border corridors in order to promote the use of the 5th generation network in transport services and, in this way, pave the way for the Connected and Automated Mobility.
Among the various projects highlighted, the 5G Observatory recalls the tests of autonomous cars on the Évora-Mérida and Porto-Vigo cross-border corridors, not mentioning, however, the Aveiro-Salamanca and Faro-Huelva connections also included in the Digital Connectivity Plan .
The most assigned tracks
In the pioneer bands, there was also some progress achieved, with 58% of the bands already allocated , representing an increase of 5% compared to the results published in the previous 5G Observatory report, in October 2021.
The 3.6 GHz band was the most widely allocated in 21 out of 27 countries. The second most popular band was the 700 MHz band , granted in 19 Member States. In last place was the 26 GHz band , allocated in seven states of the community block. However, both Portugal and Spain have already launched public consultations on the 26 GHz band.
Finally, as noted by the 5G Observatory, five countries have not yet designated any of the pioneer bands. The number of member states that have allocated spectrum in the three pioneering bands, however, has remained unchanged since last October, when only seven European Union countries achieved this goal.
European coverage
With 5G services available throughout the community, network coverage reaches almost half of the European population – 49% is the current bar, below the 50% pointed out in the latest report by the European Association of Telecommunications Network Operators (ETNO) . The slight discrepancy, however, is explained, according to the 5G Observatory, by the fact that non-EU countries such as the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or the Western Balkans were included in the ETNO study.
What the 5G Observatory map shows is that Germany and the Netherlands have reached 90% coverage, thus taking the lead in Europe. Denmark and Malta follow, with 80%, Finland with 76%, and Cyprus and Ireland, both with 70%. Portugal is still in the group of countries with no reported data, together with Bulgaria, Lithuania and Latvia, although NOS, Vodafone and MEO have already announced that their 5G networks are available in the 22 district capitals.
But, among the variations that the Member States presented, there were countries that made significant leaps, between 2020 and last year. This is the case in Poland , which rose from 10% to 40% of the population covered by 5th generation networks. Or Estonia , which, from zero percent, climbed to 47% of the population. And even Germany, which currently occupies the first place on the podium, has had a meteoric evolution – from 18% to 90% within a year.
Globally, South Korea is the undisputed leader in the deployment of 5G networks, with 162,099 5G base stations, corresponding to a ratio of 319 inhabitants per station. Just below, China appears with 916 thousand stations, but representing only 1531 people per station. The European Union, in this race, manages to surpass the United States, with 105,993 5G base stations, which is equivalent to 4,224 inhabitants per station.
Innovation in the industry
The report also places special emphasis on 5G in so-called vertical markets, such as industrial and agricultural automation, the automotive industry, the transport and healthcare sectors, which will undergo major transformations in their products, services and models with the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics or Augmented Reality.
Licensing models are currently under continuous debate – recalls the observatory – but there are more and more Member States adopting local licensing for spectrum dedicated to 5G verticals . Germany was the first member state, but in total there are already ten EU countries to implement this model, including Portugal, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Holland or Sweden.
No less important is the cyber security that the European Commission wants to see reinforced through the EU Tolbox. If, on the one hand, “a large number” of Member States have already taken concrete measures to implement the strategy, on the other hand, the definition of its content and the scope of the measures is still to be done.
This is why the Observatory concludes the report with a “strong recommendation” for Member States to intensify cooperation efforts with a view to expanding the exchange of information that speeds up the implementation of this tool announced in 2020 as the safest path. to secure 5G networks.