The first commercial 5G mobile networks were launched in Europe in mid-2019. Roughly one year later, most countries’ main mass-market rollouts were already underway.
The technology continues to grow in popularity as network deployments progress. At the end of June 2024, there were an estimated 190 million 5G subscriptions across Europe, up from around 130 million a year earlier.
In European markets where 5G is available, the technology accounts for an average of 27% of all mobile subscriptions.
Steady Progress
5G Growth in Europe
Forecasts from TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database predict that the 5G subscription total will reach 438 million by end-2026—43% of all mobile subscriptions in Europe.
By end-2030, we expect almost 750 million 5G subscriptions, equivalent to 73% of the regional total.
UK Out in Front
As of mid-2024, the UK leads the way as the largest 5G market in Europe, clocking around 37 million subscriptions—roughly 40% of its overall mobile total.
As of mid-2024, the UK leads the way as the largest 5G market in Europe, clocking around 37 million subscriptions—roughly 40% of its overall mobile total.
The country’s first commercial 5G service was introduced by EE in May 2019. By mid-2024, its 5G network was available to more than three-quarters of the population.
Vodafone was second to market, switching on 5G infrastructure in seven cities in July 2019. By H1 2024, its network footprint encompassed more than 320 towns and cities.
O2 debuted its commercial 5G offering in October 2019, covering six cities at launch and more than 50% of the population by the end of June 2024.
Although Three actually beat O2 to market with a 5G offering, it only did so by introducing a “5G Home Broadband” plan in August 2019. Accessible via a hub or router, coverage for the service was restricted to parts of London. It was not until February 2020 that Three finally confirmed a mobile handset 5G launch. On June 30, 2024, its network was available to 62% of the population via 4,900 base station sites.
Vodafone announced the UK’s first commercial 5G Standalone (SA) launch in June 2023. Initial coverage areas included the cities of Cardiff, Glasgow, London, and Manchester. By mid-2024, it had reached 23 cities.
O2 was the next to implement 5G SA with a switch-on in 14 cities in February 2024. EE launched the technology in 15 cities in September 2024. Three has yet to announce an expected launch date for 5G SA.
Other Major Markets
Europe’s next largest market for 5G—as of mid-2024—is Germany, with an estimated 33 million 5G subscriptions from a total of 120 million.
The government concluded its 5G spectrum auction in June 2019. Just a month later, Vodafone launched services in the 3.5GHz band. The following year, Vodafone went on to incorporate 700MHz and 1800MHz frequencies to improve capacity and coverage. By June 2024, its combined 5G coverage reached 92% of the population.
Telekom Deutschland was the next to launch 5G in September 2019, initially covering five cities with speeds of up to 1Gbps and achieving 97% coverage by mid-2024.
Mobile market leader Telefonica finally entered the 5G arena in October 2020, reaching 95% of Germany’s population as of June 2024.
27% 5G Penetration
Europe’s 5G Sector
| Country | Total Subs | 5G Subs | 5G Share | First 5G Launch |
| United Kingdom | 92,322,700 | 37,235,000 | 40% | May-19 |
| Germany | 119,602,100 | 33,300,000 | 28% | Jul-19 |
| Italy | 77,015,000 | 15,650,000 | 20% | Jun-19 |
| France | 78,289,044 | 13,305,950 | 17% | Nov-20 |
| Netherlands | 25,397,500 | 13,105,000 | 52% | Apr-20 |
| Poland | 51,210,095 | 9,850,000 | 19% | May-20 |
| Spain | 53,935,200 | 8,945,000 | 17% | Jun-19 |
| Denmark | 8,690,330 | 5,217,541 | 60% | Sep-20 |
| Sweden | 14,599,100 | 4,976,250 | 34% | May-20 |
| Switzerland | 11,662,299 | 4,963,133 | 43% | Apr-19 |
| Austria | 14,147,297 | 4,325,000 | 31% | Sep-19 |
| Hungary | 11,094,776 | 4,065,000 | 37% | Oct-19 |
| Finland | 9,156,206 | 3,965,485 | 43% | Jul-19 |
| Czech Republic | 14,830,000 | 3,615,000 | 24% | Jul-20 |
| Belgium | 12,353,800 | 3,535,000 | 29% | Apr-20 |
| Norway | 6,373,462 | 3,085,000 | 48% | Mar-20 |
| Portugal | 16,453,971 | 2,992,000 | 18% | Oct-19 |
| Romania | 24,761,370 | 2,825,000 | 11% | Jun-19 |
| Bulgaria | 8,620,000 | 2,360,000 | 27% | Sep-20 |
| Greece | 13,798,258 | 2,330,000 | 17% | Dec-20 |
| Ireland | 8,308,000 | 2,155,000 | 26% | Aug-19 |
| Croatia | 4,630,000 | 1,395,000 | 30% | Oct-20 |
| Slovakia | 6,175,000 | 1,120,000 | 18% | Dec-20 |
| Slovenia | 2,734,600 | 895,000 | 33% | Oct-20 |
| Latvia | 2,691,000 | 751,000 | 28% | Jul-19 |
| North Macedonia | 2,277,808 | 726,200 | 32% | Feb-22 |
| Estonia | 1,920,947 | 650,000 | 34% | Nov-20 |
| Cyprus | 2,270,310 | 600,000 | 26% | Jan-21 |
| Lithuania | 4,822,962 | 571,000 | 12% | Jan-22 |
| Luxembourg | 982,000 | 374,100 | 38% | Oct-20 |
| Montenegro | 1,373,128 | 315,000 | 23% | Mar-22 |
| Malta | 757,000 | 305,000 | 40% | May-21 |
| Iceland | 549,521 | 204,334 | 37% | May-20 |
| Andorra | 119,933 | 29,800 | 25% | Dec-21 |
| Monaco | 40,275 | 20,850 | 52% | Jul-19 |
| Kosovo | 1,864,000 | 8,000 | 0% | Q4-23 |
| TOTAL | 705,828,992 | 189,765,643 | 27% |
Source: TeleGeography's GlobalComms Database
In Q2 2024, Italy had an estimated 16 million 5G subscriptions from a market total of around 77 million. The first launches took place in June 2019, although the networks switched on by Vodafone Italy and TIM initially had very limited coverage. Both firms deployed networks covering an estimated 85% of the population by mid-2024. WINDTRE, Iliad, and Fastweb are also offering 5G connectivity.
The next largest market is France, which had roughly 13 million 5G subscriptions at end-June 2024. The four network operators—Orange, Bouygues Telecom, Altice, and Free Mobile—split the 5G subscription total fairly evenly.
A number of major European mobile markets have yet to see their first 5G network launches.
A number of major European mobile markets have yet to see their first 5G network launches. These include Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Serbia, Moldova, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Albania.
In June 2023, Russia’s Ministry of Digital Development, Communications & Mass Media proposed the creation of a single national 5G network operator to deploy 3.5GHz infrastructure, which could be monitored by security services.
Pete Bell
Pete Bell is a Research Analyst for TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database and also contributes to the daily CommsUpdate newsletter. He has a particular interest in wireless broadband and was responsible for TeleGeography’s 4G Research Service until it was integrated into GlobalComms.