The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy adopted
an own-initiative report by Michał BONI (EPP, PL) on internet
connectivity for growth, competitiveness and cohesion: European
gigabit society and 5G.
Recognising that 5G will be a key building block of
the gigabit society, Members welcomed the Commissions
action plan aimed at making the EU a world leader in the
deployment of standardised 5G networks from 2020 to
2025.
5G vision: Members
stressed the importance of adequate coordination among the
Member States, so as to prevent the same kinds of delays in the
rollout of 5G that were experienced with 4G. They emphasised
the importance of an ambitious timeline for spectrum
allocation within the Union if Europe is to be in the lead
regarding the development of 5G technology.
Certain conditions need to be fulfilled in order to
enable the development of 5G infrastructure:
- private investments should be supported by an
infrastructure-oriented policy and regulatory environment
tailored to predictability and certainty and aimed at promoting
competition to the benefit of the end users;
- all sectors - academia,
research institutions, the private sector and the public sector on
research and development should be involved in the
process;
- the deployment of fibre backhaul
infrastructure, competition for driving investment and
high-quality end user experiences should be
prioritised;
- a maximum number of EU citizens should be able to benefit from gigabit society
connectivity, including those living in remote areas;
- a coherent European spectrum strategy,
including coordinated national roadmaps and timetables, is needed
in order to ensure a smooth transition period towards 5G in all
Member States;
- spectrum allocation should be harmonised in order to ensure the
consistency of decisions and concerted EU-wide efforts should be
made to manage the accessibility of 700 MHz and frequencies ranging
from 1GHz to 100 GHz in the long term;
- all sector players should benefit from a
predictable level playing field that drives competition and
should enjoy the flexibility to design their own
networks.
Enabling gigabit society benefits: the report underlined that 5G and 5G
applications will reinvent business models by providing very
high speed connectivity, which will unlock innovation in all
sectors, not least transport, energy, finance and health. The
deployment of 5G technologies in Europe is expected to have
benefits amounting to EUR 141.8 billion annually by
2025.
Members stressed the following:
- any decision made in the rollout of 5G technologies
should always remain oriented towards the ultimate purpose of
offering end users affordable, trustworthy and high-quality
services;
- fair competition and a
level playing field for market participants are key necessities for
the deployment of the gigabit society by market participants; the
principle of same services, same risk, same rules
should apply in this respect;
- a competitive legislative framework and initiatives
are required, which encourage investments in infrastructure,
particularly in order to tackle the digital divide between urban
and rural areas.
Policy approach: Members
believed that the best path towards the gigabit society lies in a
future-proof, pro-competitive and technology-neutral
approach supported by a broad range of investment models such
as public-private or co-investments.
All decisions related to spectrum allocation and 5G
deployment, must be formulated based on future needs and how
the market is expected to develop over the next 10-15 years; a
successful 5G deployment can only be achieved through far-sighted
European legislation and policy coordination.
The Commission should:
- ensure, long-term financing for the 5G Action
Plan and the network modernisation at the appropriate level within
the horizon of the next Multiannual Financial Framework
2020-2027;
- take the lead in promoting intersectoral,
cross-lingual 5G and cross-border interoperability and supporting
privacy-friendly, reliable, secure services;
- consider setting a concrete and appealing target as a
framework for private sector experimentation with 5G
technologies and products;
- detail its action plans to facilitate the
participation of SMEs and start-ups in experimentation with 5G
technologies and to ensure them access to the 5G Participatory
Broadband Platform.
For their part, Member States should:
- implement the 5G Action Plan fully through coherent,
inclusive and timely action in regions and cities;
- implement rapidly the provisions in Directive (EU)
2016/1148 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 July
2016 concerning measures for a high common level of security of
network and information systems across the Union.
The report calls for:
- stepping up efforts on standardisation with a
view to ensuring that Europe plays a leading role in setting
technology standards allowing for the deployment of 5G networks and
services;
- adopting effective measures to fight piracy and
a comprehensive approach to improve the enforcement of intellectual
property rights to ensure easy routes to legal content for
consumers;
- encouraging the development of integrated solutions
and tests followed by cross-industry trials of large-scale
pilots in response to demand for services in the gigabit
society;
- adopting clear, common EU rules in order to
preserve affordability and consumer choice.
Members supported EU-level initiatives to ensure
greater spectrum coordination between Member States and long-term
licence durations. They also called on the EU to coordinate efforts
within the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) with a view
to ensuring coherent EU policy.