Mobile market structure and performance in Europe: lessons from the 4G era

This study examines how European mobile markets performed during the 4G era – in particular, how different market structures affected network quality, coverage and investment. We also consider how market structures and market concentration evolved, and how these affected the competitive intensity across Europe’s mobile markets.

We show that during this time period, markets with more concentrated market structures were able to deploy 4G more quickly and were better at delivering higher performances. Our analysis indicates that this was driven by operators’ more efficient use of investments and resources, including scarce resources such as spectrum and sites.

As more operators begin to deploy 5G networks, this study has important implications for policymakers setting out to promote high-performing 5G networks in Europe.