Agreement backed by a group of Nordic vendors and telcos including Ericsson, Nokia, Telenor and Telia
The prime ministers of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden have signed a letter of intent to foster the development and adoption of 5G technologies.
“The Nordic region is one of the most innovative and digitalized regions in the world. With our mature digital infrastructure, high level of digital skills and ambitious national strategies for digital transformation in the public and private sectors, we have the potential to take a leading role in the next leap for wireless communications,” the letter reads. “As the development of fifth generation wireless systems (5G) breaks through, the Nordic countries will be at the forefront of that development to become world leaders in using 5G technology for the development and digitalisation of all sectors of society.”
The heads of state highlighted that the deployment of 5G will require substantial investments as well as an appropriate regulatory framework. They committed to create the conditions in the public sector for the development of 5G technologies.
The prime ministers also said they will cooperate closely to set up a common action plan for early adoption of 5G technology across the Nordic region. The action plan will:
-Encourage the development of new testing facilities, including test beds.
-Ensure the technical coordination of 5G frequency bands within the region; and remove obstacles to expansion of the 5G network, in particular, deployment of base stations and antennas.
-Encourage and monitor the development of 5G, specifically for certain sectors such as transport, mission critical communications, advanced automation in the manufacturing industry, and energy, environment, agriculture and aquaculture.
The development of 5G will be monitored and followed up by the Nordic Council of Ministers, facilitating implementation in cooperation with the Nordic governments, national digital authorities, and stakeholders from the ICT and telecom industries.
The prime minister also urged the Nordic digitalization ministers to ‘take the lead in following up this declaration with the aim of ensuring that the Nordic region becomes the first and best interconnected 5G region in the world.”
The CEOs of leading Nordic telecommunication companies welcomed the letter of intent on 5G development signed today by the leaders of Nordic countries.The companies supporting this 5G initiative include Ericsson, Nokia, Iceland Telecom, TDC Group, Telenor Group, Tele2 Group, Telia Company and Vodafone Iceland.
“The challenge ahead is to make this vision a practical reality. We welcome in particular the recognition by the leaders that the deployment of 5G will require substantial investments as well as the appropriate regulatory frameworks,” the CEOs of the companies said in a joint statement.
They also said that appropriate spectrum assignment rules and removing obstacles to the deployment of 5G infrastructure should be at the center of such an action plan.
“We look forward to actively collaborating with the Ministers of Digitalization and Ministers responsible for the key sectors identified as well as other stakeholders on the follow-up to the letter of intent,” the CEOs said in their statement.
