PolicyTracker

The Mobile Deployment Database contains data on 43 European countries, visualising operator-level deployments of national mobile spectrum assignments. PolicyTracker has used the database to compare the extent to which Europe’s four major mobile operators – Vodafone, Telefónica, Deutsche Telekom and Orange – have made use of their 5G spectrum assignments and deployed 5G networks in their respective markets.

The sheer scale of spectrum licences reaching maturity makes this a huge issue as regulators seek to balance multiple policy objectives. These include ensuring continuity of service for end users, long-term market certainty and stability, and investment and deployment incentives for operators. Decisions on the modification or addition of new licence obligations, notably in terms of coverage, also play into the mix, as do decisions on renewed spectrum pricing.

The last three months has seen the conclusion of several high-profile auctions which have been added to our Data Explorer and are now available to Spectrum Research Service subscribers. In Vietnam, the Ministry of Science and Technology auctioned off sections of the 900 MHz band, which were acquired by three operators: Viettel, VNPT and Vietnamobile. This is the first time Vietnam has refarmed a mobile band from 2G to 4G. The auction raised more than $100 million.

It’s no surprise, at a time when GNSS spoofing and asymmetrical warfare are common in Europe, that the defence sector looms large in the UK’s plans for space and satellite. Of the £7.8 billion ($10.3 billion) of investment planned under the country’s space strategy by 2030, more than a third (£2.8 billion) will go on satellite communications.

The Mobile Deployment Database (MDD) is based on 2.4 billion crowd-sourced data points gathered by our partner, Teragence, and allows you to analyse deployments by technology, band, operator and geographic classification in 43 European countries using our new database. But what does this mean in practice? What can it actually tell us? How does it work? Join our live demo this Thursday (1 October) to find out more.

At 12%, Spain has the highest proportion of 5G standalone (5G SA) deployments of any European country, as shown by PolicyTracker‘s new Mobile Deployment Database (MDD). The UK was second with 10%, but after that the level drops substantially: all other countries had 6% or less. There are 43 countries in the MDD, which counts the deployment of radios in the sectors of a mobile base station by operator, band, and technology used.

The era of regular new mobile spectrum releases may be coming to an end. For regulators, that makes decisions about licence renewals—and the pricing of spectrum—more important than ever. Over the past 15 years, bands including 600 MHz, 700 MHz, 3.6 GHz, L-band and 26 GHz have been assigned for mobile services. But the pipeline is now slowing.

Mobile UK, the trade body representing UK mobile network operators (MNOs) EE, O2, Three and Vodafone, has conceded that London “continues to lag frustratingly behind other international hubs”. That’s somewhat awkward for a capital city that markets itself as a global tech and financial centre.

The Mobile Deployment Database (MDD) combines two independently collected datasets. The first is PolicyTracker’s own Spectrum Database, compiled from official regulator and operator announcements and covering licensed and allocated spectrum across around 120 countries. The second is crowdsourced network deployment data from Teragence, synthesising 2.4 billion data points and covering 43 European countries, updated quarterly.

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