February 23, 2022
Europe’s Path to Digital Sovereignty Will Be Paved With 5G Technology
Finland’s Nokia and Sweden’s Ericsson are two of the world’s preeminent telecommunications equipment manufacturers but their position is not assured. China’s Huawei remains the global leader in the telecommunications infrastructure market.
In response to U.S. efforts to curtail its activity in developed markets—which contributed substantially to Nokia and Ericsson’s resurgence—Huawei is focusing on emerging markets, where it can undercut competitor pricing by 30 percent.
To preserve European technology leadership in telecommunications, Europe should lead on open radio access networks (open RAN) technologies instead of opposing them.
Open RAN is a fundamental rethink of how wireless networks run. While previously networks used one hardware vendor, open RAN uses software to enable multiple hardware vendors to be used. This helps lower costs and allows for newer entrants to the wireless infrastructure market.
Nokia and Ericsson acknowledge this. At the same time, both companies offer critiques of open RAN. This is no surprise given that rapid adoption of open RAN would upend their current hardware-centered business model.
Some European analysts have also expressed concerns about the presence of Chinese companies in the O-RAN Alliance, an industry grouping dedicated to setting open RAN specifications. They argue the U.S., Japan, and Europe should not move forward with open RAN technology because Chinese companies are involved in standardizing it.
Read the full article from Fortune.
More from CNAS
-
Sharper: Trump 2.0
Commentary
Donald Trump's return to the White House is widely expected to reshape America's global priorities. With personnel choices and policy agendas that mark a significant break fro...
By Charles Horn & Gwendolyn Nowaczyk
-
More Escalation in Ukraine: British Missiles and U.S. Land Mines
Podcast
Jim Townsend, adjunct senior fellow in the Center for a New American Security Transatlantic Security Program, joins to discuss British long-range missiles and U.S. land mines ...
By Jim Townsend
-
Team America
Podcast
Kate Kuzminski, Deputy Director of Studies, and the Director of the Military, Veterans, and Society (MVS) Program at CNAS, joins to discuss President-elect Donald Trump nomina...
By Katherine L. Kuzminski
-
What Trump Means for Europe with the Eurofile Podcast
Podcast
For this special edition episode of Brussels Sprouts, Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend join forces with The Eurofile from the Center for Strategic and International Stud...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
