To the surprise of few on this side of the pond, the GSMA released a report today stating the current superiority of the United States in deploying and monetizing mobile broadband markets in relation to operators across Europe.
The report, “Mobile Wireless Performance in the EU and U.S.,” notes that Europe’s once leadership position in the mobile space has been overtaken by aggressive mobile broadband deployments across the United States.
“Europe was the birthplace of mobile, with a wide range of companies pioneering the innovation that now benefits more than 3.2 billion men and women around the world,” said Anne Bouverot, director general at the GSMA. “However, this report confirms the very sobering reality that Europe has lost its edge in mobile and is significantly underperforming other advanced economies, including the United States. While there are many factors that have contributed to Europe’s current position, it is clear that enlightened policy reforms could bring improvement, creating substantial benefits for EU consumers and driving economic growth.”
The report, which was conducted in collaboration with Navigant Economics, found that:
–On average, U.S. consumers spend more each month than their EU counterparts and use mobile services much more intensely, consuming five-times more voice minutes and nearly twice as much data.
–The United States has opened up a large lead in deployment of next-generation technologies; by the end of 2013, nearly 20% of U.S. connections will be on LTE networks, compared to fewer than 2% in the EU.
–Average mobile data connection speeds in the United States are now 75% faster than those in Europe and by 2017 will be more than twice as fast.
–Mobile investment in the United States has outpaced that in Europe, with capital expenditure in the United States growing by 70% since 2007 while declining in the EU and the gap continues to widen.
This divergence can be seen by the multiple LTE network deployments currently underway across the United States that is on track to host four separate nationwide LTE networks by the end of the year. By comparison, LTE networks are just beginning to be launched across some European countries, with many markets still waiting on auctions of specific “4G” spectrum assets in order to support LTE services.
In explaining the current positions, the report cites challenges in the EU regulatory framework as hindering the growth of mobile broadband across Europe.
“While there are several factors leading to this divergent performance, it can be partially attributed to the relatively inefficient structure of mobile markets in Europe,” said Jeffrey Eisenach, managing director at Navigant Economics. “EU regulatory policies have resulted in a fragmented market structure that prevents operators from capturing beneficial economies of scale and scope and inhibits the growth of the mobile ecosystem.”
The report targets several topics that need to be tackled by European countries in order to regain lost ground in the mobile broadband space. Those topics include:
–Focus on facilitating investment and innovation.
–Prioritizing spectrum allocation and harmonization.
–Enabling “efficient” consolidation.
–Driving a single European market for mobile.
–Attracting investment and innovation into the European market.
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