On Monday 24 January, the European Court of Auditors published a report in which it deplores the delays in the deployment of 5G networks by EU Member States.
While all Member States - with the exception of Malta, Cyprus, Lithuania and Portugal - have met the 2020 targets, the picture is bleaker for the 2025 targets.
For 16 Member States, including Austria, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands, the Commission estimates that it will be at best “moderately likely” to achieve the targets set for 2025. Worse still, this probability is considered “low” for Belgium, Croatia, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Greece.
By November 2021, the report details, 23 EU Member States had still not transposed the EU directive, which among other things sets deadlines for the allocation of frequency bands, into national law.
In addition, the report also addresses the issue of security. In this regard, the report highlights that there is little public information on how the EU is addressing the security aspects of 5G deployment.
The absence of binding measures, the European Court of Auditors says, allows Member States to adopt divergent approaches to the use of certain equipment or varying restrictions on certain suppliers labelled as ‘high risk’.
“Up to €400 billion could be spent by 2025 on the development of 5G networks to support future economic growth and competitiveness. But many Member States are lagging behind and the EU is therefore still far from reaping the benefits that 5G can offer”, summarised Annemie Turtelboom, member of the European Court of Auditors.
In March 2021, the Commission set the ambition of universal 5G coverage by 2030. Only half of the Member States have so far included these targets in their national strategies.
See the report: https://bit.ly/343axFx (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)