Europe risks falling further behind global rivals in the rollout of 5G networks, warns Margherita Della Valle, Vodafone’s chief executive.
While Europe once led the world in 2G, it is now trailing not only the United States and China but also numerous emerging economies. Della Valle believes that regulators’ emphasis on low consumer prices has deterred investment, hampering digital infrastructure development across the continent.
The recent approval of Vodafone’s £16.5 billion merger with Three in the UK offers, in Della Valle’s words, a “glimpse of what a future, different tech world might look like,” demonstrating how greater scale can unlock the capital needed for stronger 5G investment. With fewer but larger operators, Della Valle says, Europe can stand a better chance of matching the connectivity levels seen in the US and Asia.
Europe’s lag has broader implications, extending beyond customer experience to questions of global competitiveness and technological autonomy. Fewer large-scale infrastructure upgrades, such as subsea cables and advanced satellite technology, leave European telecom operators reliant on external providers – mostly from the US – effectively making Europe a “technology taker.” Della Valle points out that Europe has the capabilities to take the lead again but needs a more permissive regulatory environment.