Page 48 - EE Times Europe November 2021 final

48 EE|Times EUROPE

OPINION | IoT & 5G
provide their connectivity, along with telecom
Wake Up, Europe, Before operators and service providers. Many of the
companies that will be the main users of 5G
belong to strategic or sensitive sectors, in
GAFAM Dominates 5G which Europe has many flagships.
If nothing is done, in the short term, the
GAFAM companies will occupy an ultra-
and Beyond dominant position in these sectors, like the
one they have in the general public. Being
dependent both on the supply of software
infrastructure and on the applications that
By Bertrand Guilbaud, b<>com will be provided to them, the user companies
will be vulnerable in three areas in particular:
control of their data, their cybersecurity, and
The arrival of “5G and beyond” networks and their development maintaining their know-how.
over the next 20 years promise considerable upheaval. While they
open up tremendous opportunities for businesses, they will also lead
to a complete reorganization of the industrial value chain that was in The arrival of “5G and
place with previous generations of networks. beyond” networks will lead
This paradigm shift is not without risks, both for the economic
survival of the major telecom operators and for the companies that to a complete reorganization
use 5G, whose potential dependence on the GAFAM companies
(Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft) and American and of the industrial value chain
Asian IT giants could become a critical issue. that was in place with
Indeed, the convergence of telecom and information technology — which is now a reality with
5G — opens the way for GAFAM and major IT companies to gain a foothold in private enterprise previous generations of
networks and take over the territory previously occupied by telecom equipment manufacturers
and operators. networks.
Energy producers and distributors, security and defense players, hospitals, large industrial
sites, and distribution companies will massively move to 5G networks, which will enable them to
advance their competitiveness, flexibility, performance, and security/control, as well as to access At the same time, if they do not react,
and offer new services. telecom operators and major European
This will completely change the game of the current value chain, which is made up, to put it manufacturers risk losing their role as
simply, of device makers, equipment manufacturers, and the network operators that middlemen between their end customers and
suppliers, when, in fact, they hold the keys
to the development of an entirely in-country
(“sovereign”) supply chain.
These major economic and technological
issues clearly call for an alternative to the
emerging pattern.
Winning back control of the entire value
chain for future networks is now a long-term
ambition for French and European manu-
facturers. This control cannot and must not
be left in the hands of a single player. It is
urgent to rebuild an ecosystem with European
operators, system integrators, and software
publishers.
The xG initiative, launched in December
2020 with the financial support of the French
government as part of the Recovery and
Resilience Plan and led by the technological
research institute b<>com, aims precisely to
offer this collective alternative, through the
development of a secure, sovereign, private
network solution for 5G and beyond.
A way to hold out today, hopefully to win
back tomorrow.
IMAGE: FRED PIEAU secure the European telecom sector’s vital
We have a short window of opportunity to
role in the 5G value chain. Our industrial
champions must act boldly and do so now. ■

Bertrand Guilbaud is CEO of b<>com.

NOVEMBER 2021 | www.eetimes.eu