Luxembourg Ranks 9th in Europe for 5G Readiness

Luxembourg consulting agency inCITES Consulting recently published its Europe 5G Readiness Index, in which the Grand Duchy ranks 9th.

One year after the introduction of its 5G Readiness Index, inCITES Consulting has updated its Europe index, taking into consideration a full year of developments in the 5G race. The index presents an overall readiness score for each country (39 in total) which comprises six factor categories with 35 criteria in total within those categories. Index scores can be used to draw comparisons at all levels (overall score, factor category score, criterion score) on a like-for-like basis.

According to the index, the divide between Western and Eastern Europe still exists, while Northern European countries in particular look very well equipped for the challenges lying ahead. The ability to promote innovation accompanied by stable regulation and policy-making appeared to be strong points that characterise most mature European markets. 

In 1st place this year was Finland with a total score of 70.95 out of 100, followed by Switzerland (69.00) and Germany (66.68) in 2nd and 3rd place respectively. Luxembourg came in 9th place in this year's Europe 5G Readiness Index with a total score of 62.97. The total score takes into account the following factors: infrastructure and technology (Luxembourg ranked 17th with a score of 54.15), regulation and police (3rd with 73.74); innovation landscape (12th with 54.23); human capital (22nd with 55.18); country profile (7th with 81.80); and demand (10th with 58.92). 

The infrastructure and technology category includes factors that relate to existing fixed and mobile infrastructure that will be used in 5G networks as well as preparatory steps towards deploying the new technology, such as spectrum auctions, 5G trials and deployment of commercial 5G networks. Meanwhile, the regulation and policy category includes factors that relate to the regulatory and policy frameworks that will be key to facilitate the smooth and swift deployment of 5G networks. Indeed, Luxembourg’s strength appears to lie in its 3rd place in this category, achieving great result in ensuring a stable, efficient and adaptable environment for the ICT sector to prosper, according to the index.

The innovation landscape category includes factors that relate to potential contributors to the development of the new technology from a research and financial perspective. For its part, the human capital category includes factors that relate to quality of the education system and training initiatives that could be useful in deploying and adopting new technologies. The country profile category includes factors that relate to the existing economic state of a country, ICT industry competition and the government's support and use of new technologies. And finally, the demand category includes factors that relate to the adoption of new fixed and mobile technologies as well as the use of the internet.

The full report can be downloaded at https://www.incites.eu/incites-map/Europe_5G_Readiness_Index_Report.pdf.