Europe threatens to fall behind the worldwide rivals in the rollout of 5G networks, warns Margherita della Valle, CEO of Vodafone.
While Europe once led the world in 2G, it now not only follows the United States and China, but also countless emerging economies. Della Valle is of the opinion that the emphasis of regulators at low consumer prices has deterred investments, which hinder the development of digital infrastructure on the entire continent.
The recent approval of the £ 16.5 billion merger of Vodafone with three in the UK offers, in the words of Della Valle, a “glimpse of what a future, other technical world could look like”, which shows how larger scale can unlock the capital needed for stronger 5G investments. With fewer but larger operators, says Della Valle, Europe can have a better chance of matching the connectivity levels that are seen in the US and Asia.
The delay in Europe has broader implications, which go beyond customer experience for questions about worldwide competitiveness and technological autonomy. Less large-scale infrastructure upgrades, such as submarine cables and advanced satellite technology, let European telecom operators, depending on external providers-meestal from the US and make Europe effectively a ‘technology maker’. Della Valle points out that Europe has the opportunity to take the lead again, but needs more tolerant regulations.