European Telecoms Recruitment Market Update

Europe's Telco Market in 2026: Stabilisation, Smarter Investment, and the Shift to Value

Europe's telco market has quietly entered a different kind of year. The fast pace of 5G rollout that defined much of the early part of this decade is easing off, and what's replacing it feels less dramatic but arguably more important: a deliberate, sometimes uncomfortable realisation of what comes next.

Capex across the sector is tightening, and Europe is feeling it more acutely than most. Margin pressure has been building for years. Regulatory environments remain complex and the idea that more network infrastructure automatically translates into more revenue has largely been disproven.

What we're seeing instead is a shift toward targeted, justifiable spending - network automation, energy efficiency, return on capital. Coverage was the story of the last decade. Performance and monetisation are the story of this one. Operators are asking the  question “where investment actually delivers value?”

Stability in RAN

After a painful correction that wiped a significant value off the RAN market value between 2022 and 2024, things have stablised. That stabilisation has extended into 2026, and Europe has actually fared better than many expected with stronger regional dynamics and more favourable conditions have helped the market hold up against the global trend.

Growth going forward will be selective rather than broad. 5G evolution, AI-driven RAN, cloud-based architectures are areas that will attract continued investment. But operators aren't going to splash capital around like they once did. The focus is on getting more from what already exists, while positioning for what's coming.

Open RAN

Open RAN has spent a more years being talked about more than being deployed, particularly in Europe. That's slowly changing. As operators look to reduce vendor dependency and find more cost-effective ways to evolve their networks, the commercial case is becoming harder to ignore.

The ecosystem has also matured enough that the risk looks different now. Established vendors have adapted rather than resisted, which gives operators more confidence in making the transition. Open RAN won't transform European networks overnight, but it's no longer a distant prospect - it's becoming part of live planning conversations.

From Infrastructure to Monetisation

The truth is that Europe's telco sector is no longer in a build phase. The infrastructure is largely there. The challenge now is making it pay.

That means leaning into AI and automation to bring down operational costs, expanding into private networks and enterprise services where margins are healthier, and improving network quality in ways that customers notice and value. It also means taking energy efficiency seriously - not just as a sustainability commitment, but as a genuine cost lever.

None of this is simple.

At First Point Group, what we're seeing in the talent market reflects this shift directly. Demand is growing for people who understand AI-driven networks, cloud RAN, optical engineering, and enterprise wireless, not only engineers who can build infrastructure, but professionals who can help operators extract real value from it.