The European Commission is pushing the technology frontiers for telecom operators, spearheading forward initiatives to accelerate the rollout of 5G networks. The rapid growth expected of the Internet of Things (IoT) is seeing the 5G mobile technology as a 'must-have' for economies that thrive on continuous growth and innovation not only in the ICT sector, but across all other key sectors where people, things and machines will be connected in ways unprecedented in history. The IoT and the advancements in mobile communications will play a key role in increasing productivity and efficiency in a host of segments in the economy, an outcome that is much anticipated during times where economic growth remains has been slow and sluggish in many regions.
The EC, in its recent statement, outlined its strategy for accelerating the roll out of 5G networks which includes various investments and initiatives by the public sector and via public-private partnership in the member countries.
Among the projects currently run by the EC include:
1. The establishment of a toolbox that facilitates coordinated spectrum sharing between ultra-dense networks, with the potential to increase capacity by a factor greater than 10.
2. Research into enabling the same frequency to be used for transmission and reception via implementation of sufficient isolation, with chances of doubling the capacity
Accordign to the EC, the (1) and (2) will address the congestion networks are expected tol face once the number of connections start to grow exponentially when more and more devices become connected.
Apart from the above, EC's other research projects include:
(a) the METIS project, coordinated by Swedish Ericsson, to prepare the architecture of the future 5G networks and to help with pre-standardisation and regulation processes;
(b) the CROWD project, led by Italian company Intecs, to focus on very dense wireless access networks;
(c) the 5GNOW, led by German research organisation Fraunhofer Society, that works on waveforms; and
(d) others such as iJOIN, TROPIC, Mobile Cloud Networking and MOTO
In their statement, EU said that its investment amounts to €700 million under the new research and innovation programme, Horizon 2020 while private contribution is expected to reach at least €3.5 billion by 2020.
"It (the 5G network) will also offer totally new possibilities to connect people, and also things – being cars, houses, energy infrastructures. All of them at once, wherever you and they are."
- Neelie Kroes, Vice-President, European Commission
