New-Tech Europe Magazine | Q1 2023

Mobile players and policy makers must collaborate to accelerate 5G rollout in Europe

Gilles Garcia, Senior Director, Data Center and Communications Group, AMD

5G is maturing as a technology. According to Ericsson, there will be over one billion 5G subscribers worldwide by the end of 2022, and the technology is scaling faster than any previous mobile generation. The diversity of the use-cases 5G supports – from connecting the unconnected to industry 4.0 – makes it a compelling investment opportunity for private sector and government stakeholders. However, questions have been raised as to whether European countries are maximizing the 5G opportunity, igniting a discussion around how to accelerate 5G investment. The GSMA’s Mobile Economy Europe 2022 report indicates that 5G network coverage across Europe will rise to 70% by 2025 – up from 47% in 2021. Yet compared to countries such as South Korea and USA, this is relatively slow rate of adoption. The report forecasts these countries will achieve

98% coverage and above in the same timeframe. So, what more can be done to accelerate 5G deployment in Europe, which at its current rate will leave almost a third of the population without 5G coverage by 2025? Policy to drive investment Policy making at both a domestic and continental level is a powerful tool for driving technology adoption forwards. The European Commission has historically been a driving force of this, and in 2021 published its Digital Decade policy programme, which set objectives for 2030 to spearhead Europe’s digital transformation. Moreover, domestic governments have a major role to play in creating an envi ronment that enables network transformation. One of Europe’s frontrunners in terms of 5G deployment, Denmark, is an example

of this. The European Commission’s Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) 2022 ranks Denmark as the second highest country in terms of digital readiness – still over 10% short of its Digital Decade target of 80% by 2030. Part of this relative success is owed to the comprehensive action plan set out by the Danish Energy Agency in 2019, which focused on how the country would address auctions of 5G frequency, network rollout, regulatory frameworks, and prominent use-cases. While spectrum availability has stalled progress even in Europe’s most successful countries, ambitious and considered policies can significantly impact transformation. Policy alone, however, cannot bridge the gap. The bigger opportunity is in collaboration between mobile operators, wireless technology manufacturers, the EU, and national governments. Investment needs to

38 l New-Tech Magazine Europe