Switzerland is positioned third in Omdia’s first 5G Market Progress Assessment report, behind South Korea and Kuwait.
Omdia, formerly Ovum, ranked 22 leading 5G countries based on commercial operator launches, network coverage and subscriber take-up, as well as 5G spectrum availability and regulatory environment.
The research concludes that South Korea has established itself as the early market-leader for 5G technology deployment, with Kuwait and Switzerland a considerable distance behind.
Almost a third – seven out of the top 22 countries ranked – are European, and European nations fill five of the top ten slots.
The report, based on data to the end of 2019, finds that South Korea is leading the way with 5G adoption, reaching 4.67 million subscribers at the end of December, which equates to 7% of wireless services in the market.
Limitations
“Limited coverage, device availability and cautious launches [have] limited take-up in other global markets,” said Stephen Myers, Omdia Principal Analyst.
“However, expansive coverage rolled out by Sunrise and Swisscom in Switzerland, Ooredoo and Vodafone in Qatar and Kuwait’s three service providers has rivalled Korea for breadth of market coverage.”
Elsewhere in Europe, the UK ranks sixth, Finland seventh, Germany ninth and Italy tenth.
“Right now the UK is second only to Switzerland in terms of 5G deployment in the European market and as things stand is well-positioned to lead its continental rivals in the deployment of 5G – giving it a potential advantage in terms of developing next-generation industries,” said Myers.
The report was originally due for publication in March but was delayed due to COVID-19.