In the race to 4G the US and China were the clear winners, speedily utilising the technology to develop the app economy, disrupting businesses and driving innovation across a range of sectors. With 5G, which has the power to transform industries and societies, the stakes are even higher.
An in-depth analysis of 5G deployment undertaken by the European Union just prior to the pandemic, compared progress within the EU with that in the US, China, Japan, South Korea and others, and found Europe to be holding its own. However, it cautioned, the race to 5G is less a sprint than a marathon.
“5G is more complex than previous wireless technologies,” the report’s authors wrote, “and should be considered as a long-term project to solve technical challenges and develop a clear business case”.
In many ways, Europe is well placed in relation to 5G, it pointed out, with an advanced programme in pilots, city trials and testing, as well as consensus on spectrum allocation and assignment.
It also has some key strategic advantages, such as being home to significant equipment suppliers including Nokia and Ericsson, as well as various key integrated circuit designers.
The key technical standards organisation, ETSI/3GPP, is located in the EU and is at the centre of intelligence for the technologies, and the standards and patents on which they are based. 5G will cost much more to deploy than previous mobile technologies, it suggests, perhaps three times as much as it is more complex and requires a denser coverage of base stations to provide the expected capacity.
The European Commission has estimated it will cost €500 billion to meet its 2025 connectivity targets, which includes 5G coverage in all urban areas.
"As 5G is driven by the telecoms supply industry, and its long tail of component manufacturers, a major campaign is under way to convince governments that the economy and jobs will be strongly stimulated by 5G deployment," it says. However, the EU had yet to see the significant "demand-pull" that could assure sales.
“To date, Asia has been a hotbed of 5G activity and it is where we can see countries truly embrace the potential of 5G,” says Martin Li, solutions director, Huawei Ireland.
In 2019 South Korea was the first country in the world to deploy 5G and it continues to grow in terms of subscribers and rollout. China has the largest 5G market in terms of numbers of base stations deployed, but Europe is catching up and Ireland too, he says.
“Ireland is ahead of many other European countries when it comes to 5G rollout with three of the main operators here already offering 5G, and with some 70 per cent of the country now able to access 5G services,” says Li.
Within wider Europe, Switzerland leads the field not only in terms of adoption and rollout but also in terms of speed, with operators in Switzerland providing users with “outstanding” 5G speeds that outpace what is being provided in the US and the UK, according to a recent report.
Huawei expects the EU to speed up in 2022, with 5G rolling out across the continent, more consumers and SMEs becoming aware of the benefits and opportunities it brings.
Huawei worked with Amárach Research on a 5G report to get the views of Irish small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) toward 5G and other disruptive technologies. More than 200 SMEs were interviewed.
Seven in 10 (69 per cent) believe national 5G investment will support the growth of indigenous Irish businesses, with 67 per cent stating 5G will help develop Irish start-ups and new businesses. Two-thirds (64 per cent) believe effective 5G investment will be important to Ireland’s economic recovery. “So there is an appetite for it amongst Irish SMEs and they see the value,” says Li.
There are already use cases emerging rapidly from the industrial domain, including smart factories and smart ports. 5G could also play a role on the farm, he suggests.
Swiss telco Sunrise, Huawei and Agroscope – the Swiss centre of excellence for agricultural research – are collaborating on a smart farm initiative designed to help farmers optimise cows’ milk production and track feeding behaviour.
Huawei recently undertook a 5G test in Dublin city centre and was able to achieve 5G speeds of 600 MBs, allowing it to use a 5G device to connect to a cloud gaming platform and play the content across a 4K TV with super low-latency. “This opens up a new world of possibilities for gamers and content developers too,” says Li.
