EIB warns that Europe needs to accelerate its 5G technology push
EUROPE is falling way behind the US and China in financing 5G technology, according to a study by the European Investment Bank (EIB).
Startups developing 5G applications are lacking between €4.6bn and €6.6bn a year in early- and growthstage financing, according to the study, published yesterday.
“This gap could represent a major challenge for the evolution of 5G in Europe, and poses the risk of Europe being left behind in the race for 5G leadership,” said the joint EIB-European Commission report.
The report blames risk aversion and a lack understanding of 5G technologies from both private and public investors for the financing gap.
And it says there are too many tech hubs in the EU compared to the US, where San Francisco and New York are the go-to cities for investors.
In the EU, startups are scattered across 15 countries, including Ireland, which is listed as a ‘medtech’ and ‘hardware’ hub.
“In the European VC [venture capital] market, most fund managers focus on a single country or region, rather than the whole continent. For that reason, they remain relatively small and struggle to gain the scale necessary to attract long-term financial investors,” the report says.
It also name-checks US mobile network provider Airspan as a new challenger to the main mobile providers in Ireland. The company won a bid for a 15-year licence on Ireland’s 3.6 GHz spectrum in 2017, alongside Vodafone, Eir and Three.
The report says Airspan is “one example of a potential player that can move up the value chain to provide both civil infrastructure and connectivity”.
Ireland’s three main mobile providers have launched their 5G offerings over the last year, with Three Ireland the most recent to do so last October.
It followed a late switch away from Chinese tech giant Huawei to Sweden’s Ericsson, as a result of geopolitical tensions.
Fifth-generation mobile technology allows for faster data transfers and larger volumes of traffic than 4G, enabling more devices to connect and ‘talk’ to each other.
Advanced 5G technology should be able to power self-driving cars, remote surgeries and factories, and holographic communications.
The report comes the same day the EU announced a €900m investment in a new public-private partnership to boost 5G deployment and 6G research.
There are too many tech hubs in the EU compared to the US