The deployment of 5G technologies in Europe is expected to have benefits that extend far beyond the mobile industry, creating new jobs in different vertical industries as well as trickle-down effects amounting to €141.8 billion ($159 billion) annually by 2025.
A study carried out on behalf of the European Commission (EC) by InterDigital Europe, Real Wireless, Tech4i2 and Trinity College Dublin forecasts that total benefits from 5G deployment in Europe will reach €113.1 billion annually from 2025 -- about five years after the first launches of the next-generation networks are expected.
This combined annual benefit comes from two main groupings: first order benefits across four vertical industries totalling €62.5 billion; and second order benefits across four “environments”, totalling €50.6 billion.
These “environments” relate to smart cities; non-urban; smart home; and the workplace, while the vertical industries are the automotive, healthcare, transport and utilities sectors.
In addition to the economic benefits resulting from 5G deployment, it is also expected to create 2.3 million jobs in the 28 member states of the European Union. The study estimates that the total cost of 5G deployment in the EU will be about €56 billion by 2020.
The study also identified three main capabilities of 5G technologies, including “truly ubiquitous coverage” with speeds of 50 Mbps available “everywhere”; support for large-scale machine-to-machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) networks in vertical sectors; and the creation of the ultra-tactile Internet, enabling human-device and device-device interactions.
Alan Carlton, vice president of InterDigital Europe noted that many people are excited about 5G technology, “but the goal of this study was to investigate what 5G might actually mean for industries, including the mobile industry, as well as various other stakeholders.”
The EC also recently unveiled several major policy proposals on the Digital Single Market, including an action plan to deploy 5G across the EU as from 2018, saying this has the potential to create 2 million jobs in the EU.
For more:
- see the EC’s announcement of the study launch
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