5G in Europe — Policies and standards 

5G-PPP is a joint initiative between the European Commission and the European ICT industry (ICT manufacturers, telecommunications operators, service providers, SMEs and researcher Institutions)

5G is evolving fast across Europe and the rest of the world. There have been several initiatives announced by the EU Commission that aim to maximize the potential of 5G. This is a short report that outlines all the major initiatives and their aims.

Public Private Partnership on 5G (5GPPP)

The European Commission identified 5G opportunities early and established a public-private partnership on 5G (5G-PPP) in 2013 to accelerate research and innovation in 5G technology.

5G-PPP is a joint initiative between the European Commission and the European ICT industry (ICT manufacturers, telecommunications operators, service providers, SMEs, and researcher Institutions). The 5G-PPP is now in its third phase where many new projects were launched in Brussels in June 2018. The 5G PPP will deliver solutions, architectures, technologies, and standards for the ubiquitous next-generation communication infrastructures of the coming decade. The challenge for 5G-PPP is to secure Europe’s leadership in the particular areas where Europe is strong or where there is potential for creating new markets such as smart cities, e-health, intelligent transport, education, or entertainment & media.

In July 2020, the European Commission adopted a Regulation on small-area wireless access points, or small antennas (cells), crucial for timely deployment of 5G networks for delivering high-capacity and increased coverage as well as advanced connection speeds.

The 5G-PPP initiative will reinforce the European industry to successfully compete in global markets and open new innovation opportunities. It will “open a platform that helps us reach our common goal to maintain and strengthen the global technological lead”.

5G Action Plan for Europe

In 2016, European Commission (EC) launched a 5G Action plan for Europe with the objective to start launching 5G services in all EU Member States by the end of 2020 at the latest, followed by a rapid build-up to ensure uninterrupted 5G coverage in urban areas and along main transport paths by 2025. The action plan set out a clear roadmap for public and private investment on 5G infrastructure in the EU.

To achieve that, the Commission proposed the following measures:

Align roadmaps and priorities for a coordinated 5G deployment across all EU Member states, targeting early network introduction by 2018, and moving towards commercial large-scale introduction by the end of 2020 at the latest.

Make provisional spectrum bands available for 5G ahead of the 2019 World Radio Communication Conference (WRC-19), to be complemented by additional bands as quickly as possible, and work towards a recommended approach for the authorisation of the specific 5G spectrum bands above 6GHz.

Promote early deployment in major urban areas and along major transport paths.

Promote pan-European multi-stakeholder trials as catalysts to turn technological innovation into full business solutions.

Facilitate the implementation of an industry-led venture fund in support of 5G-based innovation.

Unite leading actors in working towards the promotion of global standards.

Gigabit Society                                                                         

In 2016, the Commission launched the Gigabit Society. It sets out a vision for connectivity in the EU over the next decade. Major targets include 100 Mbps speed networks for all households and gigabit speeds for key businesses and institutions. 5G can help in achieving these speeds through technologies such as fixed wireless access (FWA).

The initiative also sets 5G specific targets such as uninterrupted 5G coverage in all urban areas and major transport paths and access to mobile data everywhere by 2025.

European 5G observatory

To monitor the progress toward the EU’s 5G policy goals, the Commission launched the European 5G Observatory in 2018. The European 5G Observatory provides updates on all of the latest market developments, including actions being undertaken by the private and public sectors, in the field of 5G.

The 5G Observatory currently is in its third phase.

In its first phase, it assessed movement towards the policy goals set out in the 5G Action Plan, most of which have been achieved. The key goal was to foster a coordinated EU approach to 5G with the release of the 5G pioneer spectrum bands (700 MHz, 3.5 GHz, and 26 GHz) and commercial launches by 2020.

This has happened in most member states, but not all. 5G observatory continues to assess progress in this area.

However, the main focus of the 5G Observatory in its third phase is the EU policy goals contained within the Digital Decade initiative and the 5G Security Toolbox.

These include:

•             5G coverage of all populated areas by 2030

•             Pan-European deployment of 5G corridors

•             Multi-country 5G initiatives

•             Leveraging EU recovery funds for 5G projects

•             Improving the security of 5G networks

•             Limiting any dependency on a single 5G vendor

•             Stimulating the EU’s capabilities as a 5G equipment manufacturer

•             To monitor these goals it examines issues such as 5G coverage; spectrum awards; and public policies to stimulate 5G’s growth.

The adoption of 5G by new vertical industries like factories and agriculture is a particularly important topic because the Digital Decade initiative sees 5G verticals as key to digital transformation for businesses.

The Observatory focuses on 5G developments in Europe, along with major international developments (USA, Japan, China, and South Korea) that could impact the European market.

EU toolbox for 5G security

Announced in 2021, the EU toolbox for 5G security is a set of measures that aim to secure 5G networks in the EU. The toolbox strengthens security requirements for mobile networks, assesses the risks posed by suppliers, and limits any dependency on a single vendor.

The objectives of this toolbox are to identify a possible common set of measures that are able to mitigate the main cybersecurity risks of 5G networks and to provide guidance for the selection of measures that should be prioritised in mitigation plans at the national and at Union level.

Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC): offers to application developers and content providers cloud-computing capabilities and an IT service environment at the edge of the network. 

It does this in order to create a robust framework of measures with a view to ensure an adequate level of cybersecurity of 5G networks across the EU and coordinated approaches among the Member States.

EU Digital Decade

On 9 March 2021, the European Commission presented a vision and avenues for Europe’s digital transformation by 2030. The Commission proposes a Digital Compass for the EU’s digital decade that evolves around four cardinal points:

ICT skills;

Business transformation;

Secure and sustainable digital infrastructures; and

Digitalisation of public services.

5G is key to this vision: the Digital Decade sets a goal for coverage of all populated areas by 2030 and regards 5G verticals as digital transformation enablers for businesses.

The Path to the Digital Decade is the Commission’s proposal to set up a governance framework to ensure Europe reaches its 2030 Digital Decade objectives. This governance framework will be based on an annual cooperation mechanism involving the Commission and the Member States. The Commission would first develop projected EU trajectories for each target together with the Member States, which would in turn propose national strategic roadmaps to attain them.

Regulation of Small cells

In July 2020, the Commission adopted Regulation on small-area wireless access points, or small antennas (cells), which are crucial for timely deployment of 5G networks and for delivering high-capacity and increased coverage as well as advanced connection speeds.

The Regulation:

Specifies the physical and technical characteristics of small cells for 5G networks;

Aims to help simplify and accelerate 5G network installations, which should be facilitated through a permit-exempt deployment regime, while ensuring that national authorities keep oversight;

Lays out the specifications for a coherent and integrated installation, while providing national authorities with the means to oversee the deployment of small cells;

Provides that small antennas should be exempted from any individual town planning permit or other individual prior permits.

Permits may still be required for deployment on buildings or sites protected in accordance with national law or where necessary for public safety reasons;

Allows for broader national measures in support of straightforward small cell deployment.

5G standardization: EU

The European Commission identifies 5G standards as one of the five priority areas under the Digitising European Industry initiative. 5G Standardisation started in early 2016 under the umbrella of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the key standardisation body for global mobile communication systems. The first phase and the second phase of 5G standardization have now been completed, with the publication of 3GPP Release-15 and Release-16 set of specifications.

This first phase focused on enhanced mobile broadband while also supporting ultra-reliability and low latency.

Release-16 provided the basis for 3GPP’s IMT-2020 submission for an initial full 3GPP 5G system, and work on 3GPP Release-17 is ongoing.

Release 16 takes into account a number of functionalities needed for 5G deployment by vertical industry, as called for by the EU 5G strategy. This includes Integrated access and backhaul (IAB), easing deployment where fiber is not accessible; NR in unlicensed spectrum, multi factories applications; Features related to Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC); positioning; intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and vehicle-to-anything (V2X) communications with additional use cases taken into account.

Release-16 delivered key standards for use-cases such as those related to industrial applications, and transversal needs such as lawful interception and lawful access to retained data. The availability of standards promoting open innovation and opportunities for start-ups is also key.

Stage 3 work on Release 17 has reached maturity - with Rel-17 functional freeze achieved in March 2022. In Release 17, 3GPP delivered important updates to 5G specifications to broaden their range of

commercial applications and improve the efficiency of networks. 3GPP is now starting standardization of Release 18.

Several ETSI’s Technical Bodies (TBs) and Industry Specific Group (ISG) are providing input to 3GPP and/or collaborating with 3GPP.

ETSI itself has a number of component technologies that will be integrated into future 5G systems: Network Functions Virtualization (NFV), Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC), Millimetre Wave Transmission (mWT), and Non-IP Networking (NIN).

Network Functions Virtualization (NFV): Founded in November 2012 by seven of the world’s leading telecom network operators, ETSI ISG NFV became the home of Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV).

Almost seven years and over 100 publications later, the ISG NFV community has evolved through several phases, its publications have moved from pre-standardization studies to detailed specifications. The early Proof of Concepts (PoCs) efforts has evolved and led to a series of interoperability events (NFV Plugtests).

Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC): offers to application developers and content providers cloud-computing capabilities and an IT service environment at the edge of the network.

Millimetre Wave Transmission (mWT): Deployment of 4G, future needs of 5G, and the number of connections required for massive Machine Type Communications in the Internet of Things are making unprecedented demands on radio access networks and backhauling. Millimeter wave technologies are expected to be a major enabler of future mobile communications.

to standardize a digital communications technology fit for the 21st century.

By Dinesh Chand Sharma, Director – Standards & Public Policy (SESEI)

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