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There is at least one thing on which all stakeholders agree about. Technology is not a sectoral debate any longer. Discussing 5G and other gigabit networks means discussing also the broader digital ecosystem.
These issues have dominated the tech and telecoms debate in 2021 and, as the year comes to an end, we share our view on what will remain high on the 2022 agenda. Our predictions are not random, though. They are based on discussions that included 12 CEOs, three European commissioners and several other stakeholders including MEPs and member country representatives at a recent Brussels gathering.
EU ambitions require industrial leadership and scale
It comes as no surprise that global leadership in digital requires scale. Just think of markets such as cloud, social media, or streaming. The tricky part is: how big is big enough to compete globally, while ensuring innovation and competition? The one thing on which stakeholders appear to agree is that European companies, today, are weaker and more fragmented than global peers. So, European companies, including telecoms operators, would like to build more scale and strengthen their position in global value chains like the ones for 5G, cloud and data services. With such technologies becoming increasingly central to the development of entire industrial sectors, this would be a crucial enabler of Open Strategic Autonomy.
The tricky part is: how big is big enough to compete globally, while ensuring innovation and competition?
Trust in digital spaces requires more than just regulation
Most stakeholders agree that the European Union, in recent years, has been successful in regulating foreign digital products and services. They consider this good: defending European values also means setting high regulatory standards on privacy, data protection and security. However, industrial players ring the alarm bell on market leadership and innovation. Regulation — they say — cannot be the only way to promote EU values in digital spaces. Creating and promoting successful European digital services must be part of the picture, too.
CO2 emissions are also a digital matter
There is no way around it: the ICT industry is both an enabler of lower carbon emissions in other industries and a sector that has to do its homework and reduce its own footprint. Institutions and telecoms leaders appear to agree on this. On the one hand, we cannot miss out on the opportunity of using ICT to significantly reduce the carbon impact of other industries and of society as a whole (reports say we can cut up to 15 percent CO2 emissions). On the other hand, as telecoms companies shift to 5G and fiber networks, the sector must accelerate its adoption of renewables and take action to reduce emissions across the whole connectivity value chain.
The ICT industry is both an enabler of lower carbon emissions in other industries and a sector that has to do its homework and reduce its own footprint.
The thorny issue of regulation and investment
Europe wants telecoms companies to speed up the rollout of new gigabit networks, so it can further innovate in the digital services field. However, telecoms companies explain that regulation also has a key role to play in accelerating rollout. As a highly-regulated sector, telecoms companies need to be able to convince investors that €1 put in 5G will generate sufficient returns and that regulation will not absorb a significant part of the returns, especially in the context of a massive and sustained climb of network investment. The is no easy solution around this, respond EU regulators, the trick is to find a balance with the interest of consumers and competitors. With a €300 billion 5G and fiber investment gap, the EU is still on the way to find that balance.
Tech regulation is a transatlantic debate
With Europe accelerating on the DMA and the DSA, there is an unprecedented wave of regulation about to hit the global technology sector. What is more, many of the companies that will be hit are American. EU policymakers explain that this is about ensuring that the internet becomes a more inclusive, open, democratic and competitive place. It is not about where your headquarters are. However, should we not expect an unprecedented backlash from the United States, as Europe attempts to regulate many of its successful tech companies? Surprisingly, many American voices appear to agree with the EU. Especially in the US Congress, which remains in a constant dialogue with European peers on how to tackle dominance and anticompetitive behavior in digital spaces. This item, actually, appears to be high on the agenda both in Washington and in Brussels: it might on top of the list of the transatlantic tech dialogue for quite a while.
If technology really is no longer a sectoral debate, then tech discussions will increasingly intersect with those on democracy, trust, climate change, economic growth, infrastructures.
There are — and will be — many more items on the tech and telecoms agenda in 2022. If technology really is no longer a sectoral debate, then tech discussions will increasingly intersect with those on democracy, trust, climate change, economic growth, infrastructures. This means that tech nerds must take a step back and see the broader picture: we, you, are not alone in the debate. Some of the things that make little sense in technology terms might make a lot of sense in societal or political terms. On the other side, non-experts must take a step forward and learn the basics of tech: with digitalization being the very fabric of human interactions, all must step up and understand how technology works.
Source: Politico
