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
-
The Future of Arms Control Part 2: The Case for Saving Global Arms Control
Podcast
This episode of Brussels Sprouts is the second part in our series on the future of the New START treaty and the viability of arms control between Russia and the United States....
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
-
The Future of Arms Control Part 1: "No New START"
Podcast
On this week’s episode of Brussels Sprouts, we’re kicking off a special 2-part series on the future of the New START treaty and the viability of arms control between Russia an...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
-
Defense & Aerospace Report Podcast [Washington Roundtable Jun 27, ’25]
Podcast
On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Washington Roundtable, former Pentagon Europe chief Jim Townsend of the Center for a New American Security, joins Defense & Aerospace...
By Jim Townsend
-
Commentary
Energy, Economics & Security / Technology & National Security
Beyond Bans: Expanding the Policy Options for Tech-Security ThreatsStuck between a rock (the fact that banning all Chinese tech that poses a risk is expensive and impractical) and a hard place (the fact that many existing mitigation proposals...
By Geoffrey Gertz
