Ericsson Warns Europe of Imminent Dangers in Delay of 5G Rollout

Europe needs urgent and decisive action if it is to benefit from the competitive and innovative capabilities of 5G or it will lose out to the United States (US), China, and other regions, Ericsson President and CEO, Börje Ekholm, has warned.

Ekholm, who gave the warning in his keynote address titled: ‘Europe and 5G- The Need for Speed’, while addressing an audience of international political and business leaders, start-ups, and innovators at the Viva Technology Conference in Paris recently, called on European governments and regulators to act fast to remove barriers hindering speedy 5G roll out in the country.

Ekholm highlighted Ericsson’s ability to roll out 5G now for customers anywhere in the world by pointing to live commercial 5G networks with lead customers in the U.S., Korea, and Swisscom in Switzerland. He said commercial 5G launches were also close in other regions.

But unlike the US and Asia, he said Europe as a whole lacks a concerted regulatory effort to facilitate the speedy realisation of 5G digitalisation. Failure to quickly address this means the region will be at a competitive disadvantage, he warned.

“It’s time to speed up 5G in Europe,” he said. “We can’t afford to have our European entrepreneurs and enterprises innovate on an old and aging infrastructure. 5G must be seen as a critical national infrastructure, just as vital as trains or ports or airports.”

Ekholm said this mindset already exists in the US, Asia, and elsewhere.

“The US and China sees 5G as a critical national infrastructure and the backbone of digitalising society,” he said.

He said Europe had the same approach when 4G was launched, failing to act on the technology, while the US and Asia pressed ahead, resulting in Europe falling three-to-four years behind.

It was no coincidence, he said, that big 4G winners such as Alibaba, Netflix, and Tencent emerged from the US and China, and not Europe.

He said: “It’s up to countries to decide if they want to be part of the revolution that 5G is going to bring,” he said, adding that 5G spectrum must be made available in a coordinated fashion and at reasonable prices to catalyze the roll-out of digital infrastructure.