As Europe moves towards a new mandate, a future-proof digital infrastructure is essential. Networks are the anchor of this change, without which ambitious goals for digital transformation, sustainability and security will not be achieved. Mario Draghi’s report Achieving the EU’s 2030 Digital Decade goals to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness will require significant investment in private infrastructure and commercial initiatives.
Through this blog, we share Cisco’s vision for the future of Europe’s digital infrastructure, combining Cisco’s insights gained over many years of experience with our recent response to the European Commission’s white paper on the European Digital Infrastructure Requirements.
The European Union for Connectivity: A Comprehensive Approach to Europe’s Digital Infrastructure
The future of Europe’s digital landscape depends on a mix of technologies. These include well-known technologies such as 5G/6G, fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), Wi-Fi, satellites, as well as supporting technologies such as data centers and cloud solutions. Each of these components plays a key role in building a robust and resilient digital infrastructure in Europe.
To this end, the European Union (EU) should consider establishing a new, open and collaborative ‘Union for Connectivity’. This initiative will encourage innovative partnerships and address the broadband needs of European businesses and citizens. The Union will review the telecommunications rulebook to enable more creative and cross-border business models and services, leverage existing public funds and support efforts to move towards spectrum harmonization across Europe.
Solving the Broadband Distribution Challenge
The poor broadband deployment in some parts of Europe needs to be addressed quickly. 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 has been hampered by a lack of harmonization, overly stringent regulation, limited flexibility in state support, and difficulties in scaling up solutions. In addition, growth markets have been mainly outside Europe.
As enterprises increasingly embrace AI and the cloud to transform operations and customer engagement, they need to be able to operate more freely in this new environment. This includes replicating previous successes in selling traditional connectivity services through Network-as-a-Service (NaaS), edge cloud, managed security services, and green and digital transformation. These advancements can help operators monetize their investments in the network.
Learn from global best practices
There are valuable lessons from around the world regarding successful plans for infrastructure and investment in the telecommunications sector. The U.S. Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which invests $42.5 billion in broadband, is a classic example of bold broadband planning and deployment.
Similarly, the UK’s Wireless Infrastructure Strategy prioritises close collaboration with industry and local authorities, aligns priorities across government departments, removes practical barriers to investment and innovation and explores potential market integration.
Network of Networks: Building the Right Infrastructure
Cisco’s connectivity mission is simple: securely connect everything, making anything possible. Our vision for achieving this goal is a “network of networks,” an ecosystem of efficient technologies focused on connectivity needs, rather than one technology over the other.
For example, for wide area coverage, 5G is clearly the preferred technology, while Wi-Fi 6 and 7 are much cheaper to deploy and are best suited for indoor use. On the other hand, private 5G reduces cyber threats by limiting exposure to public interfaces wherever sensitive or personal data or intellectual property is at stake.
Organizations need to leverage synergies between 5G, private 5G networks, Wi-Fi networks, LoRaWAN networks, and Bluetooth low energy networks to provide a seamless and secure experience for end users.
Together, these technologies can deliver exceptional user experiences, take connectivity across the EU to the next level and bridge existing gaps.
In the future, AI-based networks will revolutionize digital connectivity and human interaction. We talked about the Internet of Things before. Tomorrow, we will talk about the Internet of Things. AI of Things—And companies are already working to make this a reality. Implementing AI at scale across industries will significantly increase network workloads. This expansion could create a major network expansion challenge for the EU to prepare for.
Infrastructure: The Heart of the Digital Revolution
AI will revolutionize the way we live. For businesses, AI-based predictive automation can help organizations seamlessly manage network operations, dramatically improving efficiency and performance, reducing costs, and providing a more seamless and reliable experience for end users, whether employees, customers, or partners.
However, the investment required to drive this will be significant. A significant part of this investment will be in building the physical infrastructure. This cannot be done without a proper regulatory framework. A unified EU digital single market that is streamlined, measured, proportionate and fit for purpose will allow innovation to flourish.
What matters to end users is not the technology, but the quality of connectivity. The Commission should pursue a technology-neutral approach while also seeking to improve connectivity.
Additionally, regulations should allow providers to use the most appropriate networking solution for each case, including allocating spectrum needed to expand the use of Wi-Fi, 5G, and private networks.
As Europe looks to the future of its digital infrastructure, a bold industry vision for its internet backbone is essential. By fostering partnerships, tackling broadband deployment challenges, and learning from global practices, Europe can ensure that its digital economy thrives.
Learn more about how technology policy can shape Europe’s future. https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/about/government-affairs/ten-tech-policies-to-power-the-future.html?loc=europe
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