5G в Европе к 2020 году

Ведущие мобильные операторы Европы подписали манифест 5G, обязавшись запустить сеть 5G хотя в одном городе каждой страны Евросоюза.

Правда, чтобы развивать 5G, телекомы требуют разобраться с законодательством Евросоюза и принципом сетевой нейтральности.

Europe’s largest telecoms groups have pledged to launch superfast 5G networks in at least one city in every EU country by 2020, as part of a manifesto signed by the heads of BT, Deutsche Telekom, Telecom Italia and Vodafone among others.

But as a quid pro quo for more investment, controversial new EU rules on net neutrality should be watered down, according to the document signed by 17 different telecoms groups and seen by the Financial Times.

Access to superfast broadband — with potential speeds of 10 gigabits per second — is seen as vital for embryonic sectors such as self-driving cars, but will be hindered unless the EU’s telecoms rules are overhauled, argue the telecoms chiefs.

Strict new net neutrality rules — upholding the principle that internet traffic should be treated equally — have proven controversial, triggering a three-way fight between telecoms groups, online activists and content providers such as Netflix.

While telecoms groups argue that such rules choke investment and will limit the availability of new services, net neutrality supporters see the rules as vital for keeping the internet open, without internet providers being able to censor or moderate content for no good reason.

In the document, the telecoms groups threaten to postpone investment unless regulators offer more light-touch arrangements.

“The telecom industry warns that the current Net Neutrality guidelines create significant uncertainties around 5G return on investment,” reads the manifesto. “Investments are therefore likely to be delayed unless regulators take a positive stance on innovation and stick to it.”

The telecoms industry has also demanded a regulatory “level playing field” by placing communications tools such as WhatsApp and Skype under the same rules as normal telecoms services.

FT

Вероятно, к 2020-му году до телекомов дойдет, что даже близкий доступ к трубе не освобождает от необходимости конкурировать с остальным миром. Даже 3G достаточно, чтобы практически полностью отказаться от голоса в сотовой сети и перейти на VoIP, а что будет, когда пропускной способности сети будет достаточно для FullHD-видеозвонка в движущемся автомобиле? Хотя, строго говоря, в ряде городов это уже и сейчас возможно через LTE.