The future of 5G and beyond : leadership, deployment and European policies

Abstract

This paper discusses the need for a strategic rethinking of the policies that promote 5G development and deployment in Europe, as they are crucial in determining the future impact of 5G and later also 6G on the digital economy. Considering the current state of 5G deployment and insights that have emerged from the debate on 5G technological leadership, we discuss the need for a more effective and proactive policy from the European Union in this field. The main suggestion is to develop an industrial policy that contrasts fragmentation in the telecommunications sector by taking the whole European Union as the scale of action, instead of just the individual member states.