Europe 5G Implementation
Ericsson and Nokia built the first successful devices we can be thankful for Europe to build the first modern phone. The continent gave us GSM the network technology used around the world.
But with the latest generation in mobile data speeds, Europe is not in the leading position anymore. For the past year the United States and South Korea have beat Europe to launch the 5G. With the 5G it is bringing the new mobile experience such as streaming 4k video on the go, less network congestion for overcrowded cities and better support for new technologies like autonomous cars.
Even though Europe is not in the leading position, the fierce competitive environment of stakeholders wants to show they can deploy the 5G technology first. They still have to face the spectrum auctions in some countries. Some regional networks are shown they can if needed accelerate their own plans to catch up and keep pace with the industry leaders around the world.
In February the mobile world congress in Barcelona, Europe’s networks have made tremendous progress in implementing 5G. In April Switzerland’s Swisscom became the first European carrier to switch on its 5G service, with the UK’s implementation in May. Vodafone has turned on its 5G network not only in the UK but also in Spain and Italy with the company promising 5G roaming across all three countries, and in Germany this summer.
The coverage is not yet stable and speed test results are still mixed. Europe has proven one more time their rollout is indisputable underway!
To keep up with the trend Europe networks is building of unlimited data with extra products or services. Such has home broadband, or unlimited data reserved specifically for gaming or video streaming.
In the US are paying a massive premium for upgrading from 4G to 5G when in Europe it is free.
In the UK, Vodafone introduced a new strategy for unlimited data with plan prices based on speed. People who primarily use social media can opt for a 2Mbps plan for £23 per month, people who want to stream video can choose a £26 10Mbps plan and there’s also a £30 unrestricted option for the most demanding users.
Will see what the US is going to do in regards of the pricing!