ETNO endorses 5G industry manifesto

ETNO, the association that represents Europe’s major telecoms operators has both welcomed and endorsed the ’Manifesto for timely deployment of 5G in Europe’ presented yesterday in Brussels at an executive meeting hosted by Günther H. Oettinger, European Commissioner for the digital economy and society.

This manifesto has arisen from the cooperation between the telecoms industry, the equipment manufacturers and other industrial sectors that are expected to benefit the most from 5G connectivity.

The document also highlights the benefits of digitising the EU, the next steps for standardisation and industry collaboration, as well as the required changes in policy and regulation.

ETNO companies strongly believe that 5G will deliver significant societal benefits both in terms of new consumer services and opportunities of economic growth.

5G represents a great leap forward in terms of connectivity. It will be the main platform for digitising society and the economy. By building on the convergence between mobile and fixed technologies, it will be capable of delivering inclusive and highly customised services to a diverse range of users.

Due to the nature of 5G, the manifesto has identified industry collaboration and broadband investment as vital to its success. 5G will require massive investment in both fixed and mobile networks. Network upgrades plus new networks rollouts will be required. The manifesto also calls for an “investment-centric policy framework” to boost 5G deployment.

Signatories stressed the importance of spectrum availability and harmonisation, as well as a pro-investment review of the Telecoms Regulatory Framework, especially in terms of incentivising investments in connectivity by all players and promoting innovation.

Signatories also put forward four ways of boosting investment including:

• Fewer and simpler rules that focus on non-replicable infrastructure only.
• Encouraging co-investment and risk sharing models, allowing for a fair long-term return on investments.
• Withdrawing ex-ante regulation where appropriate to create greater investment incentives.
• Priority to long-term commercial agreements that enable competitive outcomes.

Along with the investment challenge, industry cooperation has also been identified as a crucial aspect. Collaboration will be needed not only between telecom companies, but also with industry verticals. These include the automotive and logistics of healthcare industries for example, which are expected to digitally boost and re-think their businesses in the wake of 5G.

The 5G Manifesto also highlights that the implementation of Open Internet rules must not result in a regulatory barrier to innovation. It also expresses serious concerns that the draft BEREC guidelines might hamper the development of services such as automated driving, smart grid control or virtual reality, which are expected to be enabled by the flexible and managed nature of networks.

Lise Fuhr, ETNO director general, said: “5G means new opportunities and services for European citizens. It will increase digitisation and ensure that citizens are ubiquitously connected. Let’s remove regulatory barriers and ensure we have enough resources to make it a reality.”

Phillip Malloch, ETNO 5G Taskforce chairman said: “5G will support a wide and diverse range of customer needs. Current and future policies need to embrace new network functionalities and ensure we can serve as many customers as possible.”