5G standalone coverage is limited in many regions but Western European operators are making good progress

The pace of 5G standalone (SA) roll-out has been slower than expected in most geographical regions. Analysys Mason’s latest research and insights on 5G SA coverage reveal that a limited number of operators have launched services and many new launches are confined to urban locations. Operators have faced several challenges in justifying adoption and network-wide 5G SA deployments, including difficulty in monetising QoE improvements in the consumer segment, a lack of clarity relating to the business opportunity (particularly for slicing and B2B applications), spectrum constraints and the limited availability of 5G SA-capable devices.

Figure 1: 5G SA coverage, by region, to date¹

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¹ Based on 5G SA operators' publicly disclosed data.