Europe Next-Generation eCall (NG eCall) Market is projected to register a strong CAGR during the forecast period (2026-2031).
Highlights:
- 1Starting from January 2026, the NG eCall's 4G/5G IMS architecture will be adopted in all new car type approvals, and existing in-production models will need to be fully compliant by 2027, or lose their Certificate of Conformity validity under EU Directive on vehicle framework regulation (EU) 2018/858.
- 2Since 2024, two harmonised EN standards have been in force, covering EN 171842024 (IMS/LTE-NR application protocol) and EN 17240:2024 (end-to-end conformance testing) for NG eCall compliance for in-vehicle systems, mobile network providers and PSAPs across Europe.
- 3The legacy 140-byte data limit has been dropped from MSD V3, which means that data can include more information on crash severity, EV battery status, passenger count, and rollover angle, in addition to high-definition VoLTE voice, to be passed to European emergency responders.
- 4As of 2025, the market share of Automatic eCall System as a trigger type was the highest in Europe, whereas the standard, factory-installed eCall route is growing at the fastest rate based on installation mode.
Several studies specifically attribute next-generation eCall standards adoption, growth of connected cars, and integration with autonomous-driving systems as the defining forecast-period growth drivers within Europe. Germany, France, and the United Kingdom lead regional testing and deployment activity, while Southern and Eastern European markets are following a similar adoption curve on a lagged timeline tied to national type-approval and network-operator schedules.
NG eCall takes a different approach to the legacy architecture that relies on in-band modem to modulate the MSD data into the speech channel of a 2G/3G circuit-switched call and instead uses IMS emergency call to signal the call along with SIP for call signaling, with the MSD data being carried as an emergency-call data in the IP session. This enables dual connectivity of voice and data without waiting for the entire data set to be transferred, provides Hi-Def voice resolution for VoLTE services and offers multi-constellation GNSS positioning with open-sky accuracy of 1-3 meters. Current in-vehicle systems with support for IMS eCall need to be backwards compatible with in-band modem eCall until the transition period is over, and because vehicles are a longer life cycle than mobile phones (around fifteen years compared to two years) the European market has to support both new NG eCall types and a long tail of legacy-architecture vehicles that need to keep their emergency call capability, dependent on legacy circuit-switched services being maintained by the network operators for at least some minimum time.
As the market approaches the 2026 deadline, interoperability testing is rapidly gaining traction in the industry, particularly throughout Europe. The NG eCall Plugtests, organized in conjunction with ERTICO-ITS Europe and EENA, involve European in-vehicle system suppliers, mobile network operators and PSAP vendors to test real-network interoperability before conformance testing is conducted in accordance with EN 17240:2024. Deutsche Telekom has unveiled its live commercial network in Germany for industry-wide testing of NG eCall conformance for 4G/5G and IMS, and test-equipment vendors, such as Rohde & Schwarz and Anritsu, have announced that their platforms have been expanded to include GCF-certified 4G/5G and IMS-based NG eCall conformance testing for the European supplier base.
Market Dynamics
Market Drivers
The EU's deadline for new type approvals (Jan 2026) and for existing production models to be NG enabled (Jan 2027), directly linked to mobile network operators' (MNOs) gradual deactivation of 2G and 3G networks, is forcing near-universal and time-bound industry adoption, rather than gradual voluntary adoption throughout Europe.
Emergency-Call Data Payload is moving beyond the 140-byte in-band MSD to IP-based MSD V3 which includes crash severity, EV battery status, passenger count and rollover angle, becoming a more comprehensive data source for European automakers and emergency responders to develop further connected-safety services.
As more and more connected cars are fitted with telematics control units, there is a natural convergence of technical and commercial interest between the European automotive industry and NG eCall, using its IMS-based, always-on connectivity architecture, enabling European automakers to merge emergency-call and wider telematics connectivity onto a shared hardware and network infrastructure.
Market Restraints & Opportunities
Existing suppliers and OEMs in the EU face added engineering and testing challenges as they need to certify new NG eCall systems with in-band modem eCall support for the fifteen-year in-service life of vehicles, and must comply with the bundled certification requirements including CE RED for 4G/5G module and GNSS module, UN R155 automotive cybersecurity management, and UN R156 software update compliance.
The compressed regulatory timeline, however, is driving predictable concentrated demand for in-vehicle system suppliers, telematics control units and conformance test equipment in Europe, while the various network shutdown schedules across the 27 member states of the EU and the UK's own regulatory roadmap are expanding the number of compliance windows suppliers have to work around.
Key Developments
April 2026: LG Electronics (LG) showcased its Hybrid Emergency Call (Hybrid eCall) solution at the 37th Meeting Week of the 5G Automotive Association (5GAA), a global cross-industry organization driving the development of connected mobility solutions held in Gothenburg, Sweden.
March 2026: Telekom Slovenije and Kontron Europe GmbH announced their joint support for the upcoming ETSI NG eCall 2026 Plugtests in Ljubljana, designed to advance interoperability and validation of next-generation emergency call (NG eCall) systems across Europe.
October 2025: ANRITSU CORPORATION launched an evaluation solution for the “Hybrid eCall,” an advanced automotive emergency call system, marking an industry first. Hybrid eCall seamlessly integrates high-speed 4G (LTE) communications with conventional 2G (GSM/GPRS) and 3G (W-CDMA) networks, ensuring uninterrupted emergency connectivity regardless of location. This solution facilitates the efficient and reliable development of Hybrid eCall-compatible vehicles by automotive manufacturers.
Market Segmentation
By Communication Technology: 4G LTE
The 4G LTE technology has the largest share of communication technologies to support NG eCall deployments in Europe, as it is the most mature technology in the region and is the reference network for the NG eCall Plugtests interoperability testing organised by ETSI.
Rohde & Schwarz offers conformance and interoperability test platforms for testing NG eCall systems on 4G and 5G networks in Europe in advance of GCF certification, such as its CMX500 network emulation solution.
Anritsu Corporation introduced its 5G NR Mobile Device Test Platform to support validated 5G and LTE NG eCall test cases, further enabling IMS technology integration for European device and module manufacturers.
By Vehicle Type: By Passenger Cars
Passenger cars are the largest vehicle-type segment with this type of vehicle activity being mainly volume driven by passenger cars across Europe, due to the original M1 vehicle-type mandate of the EU.
Continental provides telematics control units and system hardware for in-vehicle telematics integration that enable European OEMs to implement NG eCall technology on passenger and commercial vehicle platforms.
Robert Bosch is supplying emergency-call and telematics hardware and software for European OEMs' move to the NG eCall architecture with IMS.
By Trigger Type: Automatic eCall
The automatic eCall system is responsible for the largest percentage of trigger systems in Europe, because it is the public-safety prime purpose of contacting the emergency services as soon as a crash is detected, without any action by the occupants. This is seen as one of the most important public-safety functions that could reduce the response time to emergency services.
Regional Analysis
Germany Market Analysis
Germany is a lead market for the field test and deployment of NG eCall, with Deutsche Telekom opening its live commercial network for industry-wide testing of NG eCall, and with the major in-vehicle system suppliers Continental, Robert Bosch and Infineon Technologies, all based in Germany, playing a major role in the industry.
France Market Analysis
France is among the biggest markets in the EU that is legally mandated to implement eCall via Regulation (EU) 2015/758, with both domestic and pan-European OEMs ramping up NG eCall type-approval work in advance of the January 2026 and 2027 implementation deadlines.
United Kingdom Market Analysis
The United Kingdom remains highly connected with EU NG eCall standards, as UK OEM supply chains continue to support the rollout of NG eCall, existing UK-based suppliers have a continued presence in ETSI's NG eCall Plugtests interoperability program, and the UK still has emergency call requirements in place that are met by NG eCall which are linked to EU regulations.
Spain and Italy Market Analysis
Spain and Italy are proceeding with their NG eCall transition on the 2026 & 2027 timeline in accordance with the EU timeline, with national type approval authorities and mobile network operators coordinating the timing of their 2G/3G shutdowns to bring in line with the compliance window for the call.
Rest of Europe Market Analysis
The other markets in Europe, the Nordics, the Benelux, Central and Eastern Europe, are rolling out NG eCall as broadly on a similar timeline as the EU's core markets, influenced by their individual mobile network operators' plans to phase out 2G/3G networks, but not necessarily by the differences in the underlying EU regulatory mandate.
List of Companies
• Continental AG
• Robert Bosch GmbH
• Valeo
• Thales
• Telit Cinterion
• u-blox
• Visteon Corporation
• Infineon Technologies
• STMicroelectronics
• DENSO Corporation
• Harman International
• Texas Instruments
Competitive Landscape
Continental
Continental provides telematics control units and in-vehicle system hardware and software for the NG eCall architecture based on IMS for European automotive OEMs' move to passenger-car and commercial-vehicle platforms.
Robert Bosch
Robert Bosch offers automotive industry 4G/5G NG eCall solutions that enable a transition from legacy circuit-switched eCall to 4G/5G NG eCall systems.
u-blox
u-blox is a supplier of GNSS positioning modules and cellular connectivity components to meet the multi-constellation location accuracy and connectivity needs of NG eCall in-vehicle systems for the European market.
Analyst View
The Europe Next-Generation eCall market is unique in the automotive technology segment in that its growth path is not necessarily demand-driven but deadline-driven: With the binding deadline of 2026 and 2027 directly linked to the mobile network operators' (MNOs) 2G/3G shutdown schedules, the market for Next-Generation eCall systems will be growing near-universally across the region, regardless of demand, over the next few years. This drives strong and certain demand for European in-vehicle system suppliers, telematics control units, GNSS modules and conformance test equipment in the short term. On the longer-term, NG eCall's new, IP-based architecture and incompletely defined data payload in the MSD V3 are making it a foundation for more comprehensive connected-vehicle safety services well beyond the original European 'eCall' emergency call mandate. Telematics vendors with extensive experience in IMS/telematics hardware, GCF certification conformance testing and adherence to the parallel track in the UK are best suited to drive the next generation of market growth in Europe.
Europe Next-Generation eCall (NG eCall) Market Scope:
| Report Metric | Details |
|---|---|
| Forecast Unit | Billion |
| Study Period | 2021 to 2031 |
| Historical Data | 2021 to 2024 |
| Base Year | 2025 |
| Forecast Period | 2026 – 2031 |
| Segmentation | Communication Technology, Vehicle Type, Trigger Type, Deployment Type, End User, Country |
| Companies |
|
Market Segmentation
By Communication Technology (2021-2031)
By Vehicle Type (2021-2031)
By Trigger Type (2021-2031)
By Deployment Type (2021-2031)
By End-user (2021-2031)
By Country (2021-2031)
Table of Contents
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
2. MARKET SNAPSHOT
2.1. Market Overview
2.2. Market Definition
2.3. Scope of the Study
2.4. Market Segmentation
3. MARKET DYNAMICS
3.1. Market Drivers
3.2. Market Restraints
3.3. Market Opportunities
3.4. Porter's Five Forces Analysis
3.5. Industry Value Chain Analysis
4. BUSINESS LANDSCAPE
4.1. Regulatory and Standards Landscape
4.2. Automotive Connectivity Infrastructure Analysis
4.3. Pricing Analysis
4.4. Supply Chain Analysis
4.5. Testing & Certification Ecosystem
4.6. Strategic Recommendation
5. TECHNOLOGICAL OUTLOOK
5.1. 4G/5G-Based Next-Generation eCall Technologies
5.2. Advanced GNSS and Vehicle Positioning Technologies
5.3. In-Vehicle Emergency Communication Systems
5.4. AI-Enabled Crash Detection and Incident Assessment
5.5. Advanced Voice and Data Communication Technologies
5.6. Integration with Connected Vehicle and Telematics Systems
6. EUROPE NEXT-GENERATION ECALL (NG ECALL) MARKET BY COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (2021-2031)
6.1. Introduction
6.2. 4G LTE
6.3. 5G NR
7. EUROPE NEXT-GENERATION ECALL (NG ECALL) MARKET BY VEHICLE TYPE (2021-2031)
7.1. Introduction
7.2. Passenger Cars
7.3. Commercial Vehicles
7.3.1. Light Commercial Vehicles
7.3.2. Heavy Commercial Vehicles
7.4. Others
8. EUROPE NEXT-GENERATION ECALL (NG ECALL) MARKET BY TRIGGER TYPE (2021-2031)
8.1. Introduction
8.2. Automatic eCall
8.3. Manual eCall
9. EUROPE NEXT-GENERATION ECALL (NG ECALL) MARKET BY DEPLOYMENT TYPE (2021-2031)
9.1. Introduction
9.2. OEM-Installed Systems
9.3. Aftermarket/ Retorfit Systems
10. EUROPE NEXT-GENERATION ECALL (NG ECALL) MARKET BY END-USER (2021-2031)
10.1. Introduction
10.2. Automotive OEMs
10.3. Emergency Service Providers
10.4. Telematics Service Providers
10.5. Fleet Operators
10.6. Others
11. EUROPE NEXT-GENERATION ECALL (NG ECALL) MARKET BY COUNTRY (2021-2031)
11.1. Introduction
11.2. Germany
11.3. France
11.4. United Kingdom
11.5. Spain
11.6. Italy
11.7. EEA/EFTA States
11.7. Rest of Europe
12. COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT AND ANALYSIS
12.1. Major Players and Strategy Analysis
12.2. Market Share Analysis
12.3. Mergers, Acquisitions, Agreements, and Collaborations
12.4. Competitive Dashboard
13. COMPANY PROFILES
13.1. Continental AG
13.2. Robert Bosch GmbH
13.3. Valeo
13.4. Thales
13.5. Telit Cinterion
13.6. u-blox
13.7. Visteon Corporation
13.8. Infineon Technologies
13.9. STMicroelectronics
13.10. DENSO Corporation
13.11. Harman International
13.12. Texas Instruments
14. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
15. LIST OF FIGURES
16. LIST OF TABLES
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