Europe's 5G Standalone stall risks falling behind US, Asia
- Reference: 1771414209
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/02/18/europe_falling_behind_5g/
- Source link:
A report by network intelligence biz Ookla and analyst firm Omdia, " [1]A Global Reality Check on 5G SA and 5G Advanced ," [PDF] claims that the global adoption of 5G SA is moving into a new phase where regional differences are starting to be felt in capabilities rather than the extent of network coverage.
To put it another way, the tier-1 networks in North America have completed their transition to 5G SA and many Asian countries such as India went directly to it. These regions are poised to reap the rewards with high-speed connectivity and improved responsiveness broadly available to users.
[2]
As Reg readers are aware, 5G SA refers to networks with both a 5G network core and a 5G radio access network. Many early adopters bolted the new radios onto their legacy networks as a stopgap, but this failed to deliver the promised benefits for the new technology.
[3]
[4]
The report states that the industry is about halfway through the 5G lifecycle, and 5G SA should now be regarded as the foundation for building 5G Advanced capabilities, including new service delivery models.
5G Advanced goes beyond the network improvements in SA to include myriad small enhancements in how devices talk to towers, targeting comms bottlenecks and reliability, with capabilities such as Sub-band Full Duplex (SBFD) letting a device send and receive at the same time to eliminate wait times, for example.
[5]
But many of these capabilities "benefit most from a fully deployed SA core as their foundation," the report states, meaning operators that previously delayed SA deployment face a compounding disadvantage in that they will not be able to roll out many 5G Advanced capabilities before their SA foundations are mature.
Ookla says that Europe's 5G SA coverage more than doubled between Q4 2024 and Q4 2025, driven by accelerated deployments in Austria, Spain, and the UK. But the region still trails behind North America and Asia by a considerable margin.
A separate report last year found that the UK's 5G networks are [6]among the worst in Europe when it comes to performance and reliability. This has been [7]blamed on various factors such as operators unwilling to invest because they couldn't get enough spectrum when they needed it, and the government decision to force them to rip and replace Huawei kit instead of spending on network improvements.
[8]Starlink speeds past terrestrial networks – and regulators
[9]T-Mobile announces its network is now full of AI by rolling out real-time translation
[10]EU's Digital Networks Act sets telcos squabbling before the ink is dry
[11]EU considers whether there's Huawei of axing Chinese kit from networks within 3 years
Strategic decisions over the next two years will shape digital competitiveness for the coming decade, Ookla warns. Countries that treat 5G SA as a background migration rather than a strategic priority risk a structural technology gap that will only widen with 5G Advanced and the path from it [12]towards 6G , it claims.
But it isn't all doom and gloom as the report finds that national policy frameworks are the primary factor in 5G SA competitiveness. It comes down to governments having the right spectrum allocation strategy, infrastructure investment mandates, and coverage obligations.
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Countries that have implemented clear coverage obligations linked to 5G SA (such as Brazil) or investment incentives (Japan, Spain) show much better SA adoption and performance than countries with fragmented or reactive policy approaches, according to the report.
It also cites the UK and its infrastructure consolidation policy, referring to the [14]Three and Vodafone merger getting clearance, as a good example, but many observers ( The Reg included) feel it is way too early to judge whether this will prove to be beneficial for Britain's long-suffering mobile users.
Ookla and Omdia also highlight another piece of good news. Early findings suggest that 5G SA networks may extend battery life for devices, contradicting earlier concerns that extra radio signaling would drain batteries faster. ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.ookla.com/s/media/2026/02/ookla_omdia-5GSA_2026_a.pdf
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aZXwM-QwGnFUsOJROnhgYgAAAAk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aZXwM-QwGnFUsOJROnhgYgAAAAk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aZXwM-QwGnFUsOJROnhgYgAAAAk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aZXwM-QwGnFUsOJROnhgYgAAAAk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/08/britains_5g_experience_among_the/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/25/london_poor_5g_research/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/12/starlink_challenges/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/11/tmobile_network_ai_translate_live_calls/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/22/eu_digital_networks/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/21/eu_mulls_deadline_of_3_years/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/19/ngmn_6g_report/
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aZXwM-QwGnFUsOJROnhgYgAAAAk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/02/vodafone_three_complete_merger/
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Trump 1 - Europe 0…
"Bournemouth fruit"
A bit like Berry St Edmunds?
Re: Trump 1 - Europe 0…
Yes, just reviewed my comment, the AI auto correct or obfuscater seems to have become even more active in recent days… or is their way of getting me off the free tier…
I wonder if that is “a man from mars” problem, they’ve got so used to the obfuscator that they think they are actually writing clear English.
Re: Trump 1 - Europe 0…
Can't even call AMFM "AI" as even the most basic of AI chat bots is more erudite and cohesive
Internet version of a numbers station? Low quality translation engine? Someone trying to write poetically ala Byron?
Re: Trump 1 - Europe 0…
> Someone trying to write poetically ala Byron?
Old school hacker “malware” (*) applied to AI profiles.
(*) the brief period in time when exploits did things for laughs rather than delete files and demand money.
Sorry, I don’t get the AMFM reference.
Re: Trump 1 - Europe 0…
https://forums.theregister.com/post/search/?q=amanfrommars1
regression Vs progress
And we all know the tangerine one's opinion on progress.....
Re: Trump 1 - Europe 0…
Apart from the auto-incorrection, you are 100% right.
Huawei is probably the world leader in 5G. But to placate its owner, Britain wagged its tail. Good puppy. Here is half a bone and some more tariffs anyway.
We need a rip and replace of American back-doored technology/spy companies from Europe.
Re: Trump 1 - Europe 0…
Still loads of Huawei kit in European networks because it's very good, in some areas it's world-leading. I didn't have "5G" phone until last year but, as my current contract 4G only and gives me more than enough of what I want – data, bandwidth, geographic coverage – why would I care?
More importantly, European markets are much more competitive than the US which means profits are lower and investment is slower. But having spent all that money developing and moving to LTE, this largely means that networks are updated as and when, as opposed to large rollouts of new technology.
How does this "growing disadvantage" manifest itself, exactly? I'm in Paris and my 5g's not up to scratch so I tut in disgust, get on a plane and fly to the US to watch a YouTube video? Are tourists going to Singapore instead of London cos the 5g is better?
Stuttering cat videos?
A Patrick Campbell cat?
Staff being less productive due to slow network connectivity i.e. field support techs - where it takes longer to upload and download relevant patches etc to systems as one example?
The last two field techs to visit, used the fixed line connected WiFi - they had no usable mobile signal (O2 and Vdf). So 4G, 5G or 5G SA makes no difference.
The report makes much about “responsiveness” but nothing really about upload and download times other than to note some operators are charging for higher speed device connections.
From the report, and the lack of any real detail, I expect the improvements being noted only apply to a few sites, mostly in urban areas. The report only really starts to be meaningful, from an operator of field support techs if it says something along the lines: 98% geographic coverage of which 90% get download speeds and responsiveness of x and y, potentially with further breakdown into urban, residential and rural areas.
I suspect higher speeds and “AI” everywhere will mean the few KB patch/update to an IOT gizmo, will become a couple of GBs…
4G will give 100 MBs in many places, which is often faster than you can get on landlines. Difficult to see 5G offering more in the same locations, even if it has been deployed. It's main promise is lower latency, so maybe your field support techs are playing video games rather than updating systems.
When I went to the US three years ago, I was very impressed with the 5G coverage everywhere we went. Streets ahead of the UK. I was a bit perplexed though as to why it created an effective VPN as it kept thinking I was somwhere in the UK if it didn't pick up GPS. But it was fast and consistently good.
> I was a bit perplexed though as to why it created an effective VPN as it kept thinking I was somwhere in the UK if it didn't pick up GPS.
What is "it" in this instance? Do you by any chance have an Android phone or were using Google services? In my experience, Google is apt to using your phone's *language* to assert your location, in spite of more appropriate signals. Set your phone to "British English" and you have to fight to get them to stop placing you in the UK!
I assume this is actually an attempt at an *anti*-VPN measure, but it sure is annoying for expats.
Please explain how you determine the differences between 4G and 5G? And how do you test performance? The has notoriously poor mobile coverage in the countryside, of which it has a lot.
Trump 1 - Europe 0…
Trump’s play against Huawei and leaning on its “allies” has clearly Bournemouth fruit. As the European networks have been busy removing Huawei kit instead of moving with the times.