As robotaxi pilots gather momentum, we hear – in an exclusive guest comment – from Paresh Modi, Senior Director, GSMA Fusion (a telecommunications specialist), on the connectivity challenges and roadmap for scaling up robotaxis in Europe.
In the Spring 2026, robotaxis will take to London’s streets for the first time. The “geo-fenced testbeds” in which they will be trialled, will be well mapped urban areas, much like they have been in other countries like the United States and China.
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Automotive firms, equipment makers and regulators will all be watching closely to see how autonomous taxis perform on London’s narrow streets, where an abundance of cyclists and pedestrians also make robotaxi training particularly challenging. London’s streets are far from the neat, city planned grid maps seen in the US and Chinese cities, where robotaxis are already being commercially launched.
Investors will be following trials closely too. The European market is largely untapped, and scale is the name of the game when it comes to showing robotaxis are commercially viable. In terms of the economics, robotaxi business models rely on increasing passenger numbers, reducing hardware costs and delivering efficiencies through maintenance, charging and fleet management.
Alongside achieving efficient robotaxi production another challenge is building the network infrastructure needed for them to scale outside of small geofenced areas. Fortunately, in this, the automotive sector is not on its own.
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By GlobalDataWhile 5G is not required for these testbeds, it is vital when it comes to successfully launching services at scale and managing the economics of these fleets. For example, robotaxi firms are looking for efficiencies when it comes to increasing the number of vehicles per remote operator. These people are stationed in control centres to improve safety and help guide a vehicle when it encounters unusual scenarios such as a roadblock or accident.
In a small geofenced area, with a few dozen vehicles, that’s manageable using existing networks. In a city of London’s size, with thousands of vehicles, low latency and immediate responsiveness becomes crucial. This is where 5G standalone networks can support the automotive industry, as they can be sliced to offer robotaxi firms dedicated, prioritised network connectivity. This means robotaxis can receive a prioritised 5G connection in urgent moments when safety is critical – something 4G networks cannot deliver. This helps ensure vehicles can respond instantly to road conditions and enable immediate seamless remote capabilities.
For robotaxi operators to make money, their vehicles need to be on the road longer than normal taxis. Obviously, a key upside to robotaxis is that they don’t get tired like humans do, with all the ensuing safety benefits that brings. However, they do require regular software upgrades – especially for urgent critical updates. 5G networks allow over-the-air updates to be prioritised so fleets can stay operational longer, without needing to return to depots.
Network operators are responsible for building 5G networks, not robotaxi firms. But the continued rollout of 5G requires the business models to warrant the investment. At the GSMA we are collaborating with the automotive industry and operators to foster dialogue so that new use cases can be identified, created and trialled in a standardised way.
For instance, Elmo a pioneer in road-legal remote driving technology used in parts of Europe and Canda, has been working with Nokia to trial Quality-on-Demand technology, in line with the GSMA Open Gateway initiative. Elmo develops teledriving technology by equipping cars with multiple cameras and a custom controller for remote driving. However, peak time usage could potentially degrade video quality, making it difficult for remote drivers to clearly see all surroundings.
To overcome this challenge, Elmo integrated Nokia’s Quality of Service on Demand (QoD) Application Programmable Interfaces (APIs). This capability dynamically adjusts the network to ensure connectivity for Elmo cars, guaranteeing that even during periods of high network traffic, the cars receive the high-quality video feed necessary for safe operation. The GSMA is working with its members worldwide to ensure that such APIs delivered by mobile operators are in line with industry standards, thereby enabling wide-spread adoption.
European regulations an upside rather than downside
Despite slow adoption compared to the US and China, the UK and Europe leads in connected car regulatory readiness. In the US, according to Waymo, state-by-state restrictions on autonomous vehicles are the biggest brake on growth. For that reason, robotaxi firms will be eyeing up the European market for potential growth.
Our research unit, GSMA Intelligence, benchmarked the spectrum and regulatory readiness of connected vehicles across 15 markets. Cellular vehicle-to-everything technology is key to lower latency, broader coverage and multi-mode connectivity – all of which are required for sophisticated robotaxi fleets and autonomous vehicles to function. GSMA Intelligence’s assessment reveals a fragmented landscape but shows that European countries (and South Korea) are in a state of readiness, or near-readiness. The US, Canada and Japan by contrast are still advancing these capabilities.
Driving as entertainment, not chore
Passengers in robotaxis are no different from passengers in normal ones. However, autonomous driving in private vehicles will eventually change long car journeys from a chore to another sphere of work and/or relaxation. Car manufacturers have looked to driver assistance and autonomous vehicle software as a source of recurring revenue for years. However, this year BYD threw that approach into disarray by including such systems as standard – even in low-cost models.
While not all car makers may follow suit, it suggests the real battle ground for recurring revenue will be in-vehicle infotainment and personalised services. Business models are still nascent and from our discussions with the in, it’s unlikely consumers will pay for the connectivity this demands. Instead, car manufacturers may look to tie-ins, such as gaming, with tech companies that see passengers continue their gaming experience when in their car.
For this to happen, standardised 5G network APIs will also be important for enabling these business models to prosper. Network APIs create standardised programming interfaces that enable applications and mobile networks to communicate with one another, and automotive equipment makers to design new connectivity services and functionality that they can also potentially monetise.
All eyes on London
Though not a first mover, a lot of attention is going to be focused on London testbeds. If they’re successful, we could expect to see a lot more robotaxis on European streets before too long.
Paresh Modi
Paresh Modi established and leads GSMA Fusion, an initiative on behalf of the telecommunications sector to deliver breakthrough innovation for the automotive and other industries, harnessing the power of today’s advanced networks. Paresh has 30 years’ experience in telecoms including latterly at Vodafone where he held several senior roles related to B2B commercial partnerships and sales.
