Eurobites: Europe still playing catch-up on 5G, finds GSMA reportEurobites: Europe still playing catch-up on 5G, finds GSMA report

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Euro telco bigwigs make their case (again); MegaFon sanctions confirmed; Nokia signs video tech patents deal with Samsung.

Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe

January 15, 2025

4 Min Read
A 5G cell tower stands on a high-rise building in Dusseldorf Germany
(Source: dpa picture alliance/Alamy Stock Photo)

Europe is continuing to lag behind North America, East Asia and the Middle East when it comes to 5G adoption, according to the latest Mobile Economy Europe report from the GSMA lobby group. Urgent policy reforms are required to increase access to investment and close the gap, reckons the GSMA. 5G now accounts for 30% of mobile connections in Europe, says the report, against a global average of 24%. It is set to become the dominant mobile technology on the continent by 2026, predicts the group, pointing out that it already accounts for the majority of connections in Germany and Switzerland, while 5G adoption rates in Denmark, Finland, Norway and the UK have exceeded 40%. As of September 2024, 18 European operators had launched 5G standalone services, EE in the UK and Free in France among them.

Telco CEOs get busy in Brussels

In related matters, a gaggle of European telco bigwigs met up with Teresa Ribera, the European Commission's (deep breath) executive vice president for a clean, just, and competitive transition, yesterday (Tuesday) to once again press their case for EU-wide policymaking that was more in tune with their way of thinking on how best to maintain their global competitiveness. Vodafone's Margherita Della Valle and Orange's Christel Heydemann were among those pinning Ribera to her chair. Connect Europe, the new name for what used to be ETNO, organized the face-off. (See Eurobites: ETNO, GSMA lean on EU (again).)

MegaFon must stay in the sanctions sin bin, says EU

The EU's General Court has confirmed the restrictive measures placed on Russia's MegaFon following the operator's attempt to remove itself from a list of entities deemed to be providing direct support to Russia's military and industrial complex following Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. The measures prevent European operators from selling, supplying, transferring or exporting dual-use goods and technology to MegaFon, and from providing it with technical or financial assistance in connection with such goods and technologies. The General Court dismissed MegaFon's legal action, stating that it had clearly set out "the actual and specific reasons" why it had decided to apply the restrictive measures and that the inclusion of MegaFon's name on the list of affected entities subject to such measures was well founded. (See How Western sanctions will hurt Russian telecom and tech.)

Nokia does deals with Samsung, Zain

Nokia has signed a multi-year, royalty-based licensing agreement with Samsung covering the use of Nokia's video technologies in the South Korean giant's TVs. The new agreement is separate from Nokia and Samsung's existing 5G patent license agreement.

Nokia has also hooked up with Saudi operator Zain to deploy 4G/5G femtocells in the Middle East and Africa to plug mobile coverage gaps and improve indoor coverage for enterprise customers. Nokia's 4G and 5G smart nodes will be pressed into service, as well as a range of other Nokia's products such as its IP Security Gateway and Femto Manager.

Sparkle recycles subsea cables with OEC

Sparkle, the international services arm of Telecom Italia, has agreed a deal with Oceanic Environmental Cables (OEC) for the recovery and recycling of unused subsea cables. Under the terms of the agreement, OEC will acquire from Sparkle more than 22,000km of telegraph, coaxial and fiber optic cables laid in the Mediterranean, generating an estimated saving of more than 35,000 tons of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) through secondary material manufacturing reuse. (See Telcos go over to the green side as supply chain issues bite.)

AI sector is an investment magnet, says UK government

The UK AI sector has attracted an average of £200 million (US$244 million) in private investment every day since the new government came in, claims Britain's new-ish Labour government, which has this week firmly nailed its colors to the AI mast. Among those getting out their wallets is CoreWeave, which is upgrading its data center sites in Crawley and central London. And those on the receiving end of investment include Synthesia, which specializes in in software for the highly contentious area of AI-generated video content and has seen its value grow to $2.1 billion.

Cellnex launches share buyback program

Spanish towerco Cellnex has initiated a share buyback program in an effort to speed up shareholder remuneration. The program will have a cap of €800 million and follows the sale of Cellnex's Irish unit. (See Eurobites: Cellnex reveals its Next Chapter, sells Irish unit.)

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About the Author

Paul Rainford

Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading

Paul is based on the Isle of Wight, a rocky outcrop off the English coast that is home only to a colony of technology journalists and several thousand puffins.

He has worked as a writer and copy editor since the age of William Caxton, covering the design industry, D-list celebs, tourism and much, much more.

During the noughties Paul took time out from his page proofs and marker pens to run a small hotel with his other half in the wilds of Exmoor. There he developed a range of skills including carrying cooked breakfasts, lying to unwanted guests and stopping leaks with old towels.

Now back, slightly befuddled, in the world of online journalism, Paul is thoroughly engaged with the modern world, regularly firing up his VHS video recorder and accidentally sending text messages to strangers using a chipped Nokia feature phone.

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