Brussels, 22/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - The European Union and Brazil are preparing to sign a cooperation agreement to work together to develop 5G. The agreement will be signed at the Mobile World Congress which is being held in Barcelona from Monday 22 to Thursday 25 February.
The world mobile telephony congress is organised annually by the GSMA, the world association of mobile telephony operators. This year, it will look at e-commerce, digital identity, the ever more mobile sharing economy, online payment systems, and more.
Action plan for e-government. During the first day of the conference, Monday 22 February, Digital Single Market Commissioner Andrus Ansip announced that his action plan promoting e-government (2016-2020) would be published soon. The plan seeks to develop pan-EU online public services. “This will be based around three main principles: for Europe's public sector to be digital by default, open by default and cross-border by default”, he said. “It will make sure that: all interaction with public administrations - and between them - is done electronically; national governments in Europe must be open, transparent and collaborative; there are no digital barriers between EU public services”, he added. The action plan is likely to propose bringing together existing European portals (such as eJustice, Solvit, Youreurope, etc.) into one single portal. It will also tackle the issue of the re-use of public sector information and propose involving citizens more closely in designing digital public services. It could be presented at the start of April, at the same time as a package consisting of a communication on industry digitisation, a communication on creating a European “cloud” for research and priority standards in information and communication technology.
New 5G partnership. On the second day of the conference, Digital Economy and Society Commissioner Günther Oettinger and Brazilian Communications Minister André Figueiredo will sign a cooperation agreement on the 5G communication protocol. This document will be more or less similar to the agreements reached with South Korea (in June 2014), Japan (May 2015) and China (September 2015) and will be grounded in principles such as reciprocity and openness with regard to access to finance for research on 5G networks, market access and participation by Brazilian and European 5G sectoral associations.
The signing ceremony will take place shortly after the presentation of a report on this new technology, drafted jointly by the European Commission and the association representing the 5G industry. This document sets out the performance targets that 5G will ensure in support of innovative services in the vertical industries, such as the health, energy, motor car and media industries.
The European Union is currently conducting discussions in preparation for cooperation agreements with India and the United States. Additionally, it has pledged to invest €700 million in 5G by 2020 in a public-private partnership within the framework of the Horizon 2020 programme. Total investment could be as high as €3 billion with the contributions from European businesses. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)