As Europe moves towards its new mandate, futureproof digital infrastructures are a must-have. The network is the anchor of this transformation, and without it, the ambitious goals of digital transformation, sustainability, and security will remain out of reach. As mentioned by Mario Draghi in his report on European competitiveness, reaching the EU’s Digital Decade 2030 goals will require substantial investment in private infrastructure and commercial initiatives.
With this blog, I would like to share Cisco’s vision for the future of Europe’s digital infrastructures, combining our company’s insights from years of experience and our recent response to the European Commission’s White Paper on Europe’s Digital Infrastructure Needs.
A European Alliance for Connectivity: Comprehensive Approach to Europe’s Digital Infrastructures
The future of Europe’s digital landscape hinges on a combination of various technologies. This includes well-known technologies like 5G/6G, fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), Wi-Fi, and satellites, but also the supporting technologies such as data centers and cloud solutions. Each of these components plays a critical role in achieving strong and resilient digital infrastructures in Europe.
To this end, the European Union (EU) should consider setting up a new, open, and collaborative ‘Alliance for Connectivity’. This initiative would incentivize innovative partnerships and address the broadband needs of European businesses and citizens. The Alliance would support efforts to review the telecoms rulebook, enabling more creative and cross-border business models and services, leveraging existing public funding, and moving towards spectrum harmonization across Europe.
Addressing Broadband Deployment Challenges
Substandard broadband deployment in parts of Europe must be swiftly addressed. Over the past decade, the financial health of telecom operators and their ability to invest in networks and new services within the EU single market have been hampered by a lack of harmonization, overly stringent regulations, limited flexibility on state aid, and difficulties in scaling up solutions. Additionally, growth markets have predominantly been outside of Europe.
As businesses increasingly adopt AI and the cloud to transform their operations and customer engagement, they should be able to operate more freely in this new landscape. This includes replicating their earlier success in selling traditional connectivity services through Network-as-a-Service (NaaS), edge cloud, managed security services, and the green and digital transformation. These advancements can help telecom operators monetize their investments in networks.
Learning from Global Best Practices
There are valuable lessons from across the world when it comes to successful plans for infrastructure and investments in the telecommunications sector. The U.S. Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, with $42.5 billion for broadband, exemplifies bold broadband planning and deployment.
Similarly, the UK’s Wireless Infrastructure Strategy prioritizes close engagement with industry and local bodies, coordinates priorities across government departments, removes practical barriers to investment and innovation, and explores potential market consolidation.
A Network of Networks: Building the Right Infrastructure
Cisco’s connectivity goals are straightforward: to securely connect everything to make anything possible. Our vision to achieving these goals is a “network of networks” —an ecosystem of efficient technologies that focuses on the connectivity needs rather than one technology over another.
For example, for wide-area coverage, 5G clearly is the preferred technology, where Wi-Fi 6 and 7 are best for indoor use thanks to their much lower deployment costs. On the other hand, private 5G reduces cyberthreats by limiting exposure to public interfaces, wherever sensitive or personal data, or intellectual property, are in issue.
Organizations should be able to take advantage of the synergies between 5G, private 5G networks, Wi-Fi networks, LoRaWAN networks, and Bluetooth low-energy networks to create a seamless, secure experience for end users.
Together, these technologies can deliver an exceptional user experience, propelling the EU to the next connectivity level and filling the existing gaps.
Looking ahead, AI-powered networks will revolutionize digital connectivity and human interaction. Previously, we spoke of the Internet of Things. Tomorrow, we will talk be about the AI of Things—and businesses are already working to make this a reality. The implementation of AI across industries at scale will drive a significant increase in networks workloads. Such an expansion may pose a major network scaling challenge for which the EU must be ready.
Infrastructures: The Backbone of the Digital Revolution
AI is set to revolutionize our entire way of life. For businesses, AI-enabled predictive automation will enable organizations to manage their network operations seamlessly, drastically improving efficiency and performance, saving costs and ensuring a smoother and more reliable experience for end-users, whether they are employees, customers, or partners.
However, the investment required to power it will be significant. An important part of this investment will be to build the physical infrastructure. This can’t be done without the right regulatory framework—simplified and measured, proportionate and fit for purpose—allowing innovation to flourish in a unified EU Digital Single Market.
What matters to end-users is the quality of their connection, not the technology that underpins it. The Commission must seek to increase connectivity, whilst maintaining a technology-neutral approach.
It must ensure that regulation enables providers to use the most appropriate networking solutions in each case, including by allocating the spectrum necessary for expanding use of Wi-Fi, 5G, and private networks.
As Europe looks to the future of its digital infrastructures, a bold industrial vision for the backbone of the Internet is essential. By fostering partnerships, addressing broadband deployment challenges, and learning from global practices, Europe can ensure that its digital economy thrives.
More about how tech policies can power Europe’s future at https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/about/government-affairs/ten-tech-policies-to-power-the-future.html?loc=europe
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