‘Everybody and everything will be using 5G networks to communicate in the future. And I am very glad that we managed to sign the declaration,’ stated the Estonian Minister for Entrepreneurship and Information Technology, Urve Palo. ‘This indicates that all the member states are thinking about the future and are willing to boost connectivity and Europe’s digital competitiveness to the next level. 5G will allow faster internet connections across Europe and make it possible to develop new technologies, such as connected cars, innovative industrial machines and eHealth initiatives for example,’ Palo added.
By 2020, it is estimated that there will be 26 billion connected devices and 70 percent of people will own a smartphone. 5G will form the backbone of the EU Digital Single Market industries of the future, modern public services and innovative applications such as connected cars, smart homes and mobile health services. The declaration indicates the steps that member states will take to encourage the swift roll-out of 5G and related services across Europe. It also emphasises the need to create the right preconditions to leverage the full potential of 5G (e.g. the availability of the radio spectrum and cross-border frequency coordination). The declaration was signed by 28 telecommunications ministers of EU member states, as well as Norway.
‘5G ensures smooth and near-independent connectivity not only for individual users, but also for various devices in different business sectors,’ added Palo.
5G is a critical element for fostering connectivity and ensuring that consumers and businesses can benefit across all industry sectors in Europe, and at the same time is essential for enhancing Europe’s competitiveness. It will provide virtually ubiquitous and seamless connectivity not only to individual users, but also to connected objects. It is therefore expected that the future 5G infrastructure will serve a wide range of applications and sectors including professional uses (e.g. assisted driving, eHealth, energy management and possibly safety applications, etc.).
What is 5G? The fifth generation of communications infrastructures, or 5G, is the future network infrastructure supporting the digitisation of economic and societal activities worldwide. This technology is essential for ensuring that we will be able to continue to communicate in the future, when billions of devices will be permanently connected.
