Switzerland leads Europe in OMDIA global 5G rankings

Global research company OMDIA – formerly known as Ovum – has released the first version of its 5G Market Progress Assessment (end-2019) report, showing that Switzerland and the UK are leading the way in Europe of the twenty two leading 5G countries analyzed for their deployment of 5G technology.

Friday, 5th June 2020 Posted 4 years ago in by Phil Alsop

The OMDIA research assessed the deployment progress of 5G based on operator launches, network coverage, subscriber take-up as well as 5G spectrum availability and regulatory eco-system.

Based on these factors OMDIA’s research concluded that South Korea – as it did in the 4G era – has established itself as the early market-leader for 5G technology deployment with Kuwait and Switzerland following behind. According to the report, South Korea is leading the way with adoption reaching 4.67 million subscribers at the end of December, which equates to about seven per cent of wireless services in the market.

“Limited coverage, device availability and cautious launches has limited take-up in other global markets,” said Stephen Myers, OMDIA Principal Analyst.

In terms of the leading European 5G market of Switzerland, OMDIA commented that progress was being driven by Sunrise and Swisscom.

“In December there were 384 cities and towns in which Sunrise had more than 80% 5G population coverage, and this had grown to 426 localities in January 2020,” added Myers. “For its part, Swisscom achieved its target of 90% coverage with a “basic version of 5G” although devices supporting this network were only to be available in 1Q 2020.”

Meanwhile, in the second-ranked UK market, OMDIA noted that the UK Government was increasingly seeing 5G as a means to deliver nationwide Gigabit coverage.

“The UK Government has identified 5G as a key technology to assist in its goal in delivering nationwide Gigabit broadband by 2025,” said Myers. “The UK government’ £1.1 billion digital connectivity package, including the £400 million Digital Infrastructure Investment Fund will support investment in new fixed and mobile networks, through programs such as the 5G Testbeds and Trials Programme.”

The report is based on data relating to the end-December period and was originally due for publication in mid-March but was delayed because of the impact of COVID-19.

Further commenting on the report OMDIA Principal Analyst Stephen Myers said: “Europe is steadily gearing up for 5G deployment but right now Switzerland and the UK are leading the way – although markets like Finland have also made steady progress.

“Across Europe we are seeing governments and regulators fine-tuning their 5G spectrum allocations and operators ready for their 5G launches and expanding network coverage in those countries where 5G has already launched.

“We can expect to see a much larger number of commercial 5G launches in major European markets in the next 12-18 months as more spectrum is released across the continent.”