European 5G Observatory

The paper was published through a programme funded by the European Commission. Titled “A techno-economic view of the future of telecommunications”, the whitepaper aims to establish an initial model which lays out all of the relevant players in the telecommunications industry and their activities, including their roles and business models.

By the end of 2026, mobile operators will have to remove equipment from their core networks, and by 2029 wider network components must also be replaced. The German Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community announced it reached an agreement with the country’s main mobile network operators (MNOs) Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and Telefónica to remove said equipment. The Ministry says it is doing so to better protect critical national infrastructure.

The companies have signed a three-year agreement to drive the deployment of private networks. The agreement will see Nokia’s private networking products being deployed by Telefónica to meet needs in various industries such as ports, manufacturing, and logistics. Nokia claims the collaboration will boost Industry 4.0 in the Spanish enterprise market, allowing industries to become data-driven, enhancing Telefonica’s network capabilities and offering a clear path to migrating use cases to 5G.

The newest edition of the 5G Observatory bi-annual report has now been published. The latest report covers several new 5G developments across the European Union, and tracks progress towards Digital Decade targets. Additionally, the report also features a new editorial assessing the potential impact of edge cloud computing on the telecommunications sector. Overall, basic 5G household coverage (including both standalone 5G and non-standalone 5G) now stands at 89% across the EU.

The German mobile operator has signed a cooperation agreement with Autobahn GmbH to improve coverage. According to the deal, Autobahn GmbH will search for and provide suitable federally owned land along the motorways for O2 Telefónica to build new 5G sites. Additionally, requirements for land use will be simplified and sites that were previously rejected will be reconsidered. O2 Telefónica says it plans to expand its coverage along the 13,200km motorway network with additional 5G sites.

The country is the last EU Member State to make the band available for 5G. The Netherlands’ three national mobile operators KPN, Odido and Vodafone Ziggo all received 100 MHz of spectrum in the 5G pioneer band. In total, the auction raised €174.4 million in revenues, with KPN and Odido both paying €58.4 million, and Vodafone Ziggo shelling out €57.5 million. The licences will be valid until December 31, 2040.

The Spanish Ministry of Digital Transformation will extend the licences at no extra cost. The Spanish government has finalised its extension of all existing mobile spectrum licences. Licences that were previously due to expire at the end of the decade will now last for a further 10 years.

The Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA) says the new tool provides a “clear overview” of where the technology is available. The map reveals that 92% of Germany receives 5G coverage provided by at least one mobile operator. The proportion covered by 5G SA meanwhile stands at 90%. Although 5G SA coverage is already very high, the coverage provided varies by operator. Deutsche Telekom appears to have the most expensive 5G SA network, while Telefonica’s and Vodafone’s network are less extensive.

Ericsson has launched its latest Mobility report, which features data on global mobile deployments. Globally, the vendor says that 300 communications service providers (CSPs) have now launched 5G services, of which only 50 have launched 5G Standalone (5G SA) services. Currently, there are now more than 1.7 billion 5G subscriptions. Ericsson expects this to grow to 5.6 billion 5G subscriptions by 2029. Although the take-up of 5G is growing, the development varies by region.

A high-profile football match was broadcast at Danish Parken Stadium. The trial utilised 5G mmWave on a 5G standalone network. New Radio-Dual Connectivity (NR-DC) combined 20 MHz of bandwidth in the 3.5 GHz band and 800 MHz in the 26 GHz band. Ericsson and 3 Denmark partnered with broadcaster TV2 and Sony for the trial. using four 5G broadcast cameras and one drone camera to capture the live footage.