The internet has been buzzing about how much of an impact the dismantling of Chinese 5G equipment in Europe will have on the continent's communication networks. However, even as the UK, Germany, and others are in the process of removing Chinese 5G equipment, Europe's determination raises questions. Is the 5G network really that important to Europe?

Sixty percent of the world's 5G base stations are located in China, yet even with this significant share, China's 5G network has yet to cover the entire country. With over 6 million 4G base stations compared to around 4 million 5G base stations, it takes 3-4 5G base stations to cover the same area as one 4G base station. This means the coverage of 5G networks is significantly less than that of 4G networks. Globally, only 40% of 5G base stations have been built outside of China. When China had 3.5 million 5G base stations, South Korea had 230,000, and the United States had 600,000. Extrapolating these figures, it can be estimated that countries and economies outside of China, including Europe, have approximately 2.3 million 5G base stations. Given that Europe covers an area of over 10 million square kilometers, larger than China, the actual coverage of 5G networks in Europe is likely quite limited.

Another report from Huanqiu.com in April 2021 cited German media claiming that Shenzhen had more 5G base stations than all of Europe combined. How many 5G base stations did Shenzhen have at the time? According to one report, "by the end of October 2021, Shenzhen had built a total of 50,000 5G base stations," highlighting just how few 5G base stations Europe had at that time.

It becomes clear that the coverage of 5G networks in Europe is actually quite limited. Even if 5G networks were completely shut down, it would not significantly impact Europe's communication networks. Removing Chinese 5G equipment would have an even smaller impact.

In fact, telecommunications equipment vendor Ericsson has a pessimistic outlook for the rollout of 5G networks outside of China. Last year, Ericsson suggested that the global rollout of 5G networks might slow down significantly in the future, with the next wave of communication network construction peaks not expected until 6G commercialization in 2030 at the earliest. By then, it is estimated that 5G base stations outside of China will still account for around 60% of the global total.

Even in China, which has the largest 5G network in the world, telecom operators are quietly slowing down their 5G network construction. They have significantly scaled back their investment in 5G networks using mainstream frequency bands. Currently, all three major operators are focusing on building 5G networks using low-frequency bands. China Mobile and China Broadcasting Network are jointly building a 700MHz 5G network, while China Unicom has obtained a license to build a 900MHz 5G network and China Telecom has obtained a license for an 800MHz 5G network.

Chinese operators are building 5G networks using low-frequency bands primarily because the cost of building 5G networks using mainstream frequency bands is too high, and operational costs are also unimaginably high. All three major operators have reportedly shut down 5G base stations during off-peak hours due to their high power consumption.

China has built the world's largest 5G network, which has become a global benchmark. However, Chinese operators are struggling with the high investment and operational costs associated with 5G networks, which may also discourage other countries from building their own 5G networks.

For various reasons, the development of 5G outside of China has fallen short of expectations, in stark contrast to the rapid global adoption and construction of 4G networks in previous years.

The rapid adoption of 4G in previous years was also facilitated by the limitations of 3G networks. With a speed of only 3Mbps, 3G offered only marginal improvements over 2G. In contrast, 4G significantly improved spectral efficiency, with 20MHz of spectrum capable of delivering 150Mbps compared to 3Mbps with 5MHz of spectrum for 3G, representing an 11.5-fold increase in spectral efficiency. This, combined with faster speeds, contributed to the rapid adoption of 4G networks.