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Finnish vendor says governments, regulators must remove barriers to investment, innovation; urges industry to drive ecosystem growth.
Nokia on Wednesday highlighted the widening gap between Europe and the rest of the world when it comes to tech investment and deployment, and called on industry players to do whatever it takes to regain the digital initiative.
In a keynote presentation at Total Telecom Congress in London, Markus Borchert, Nokia’s senior vice president of Europe, and president of industry group DigitalEurope, discussed the I’s that determine digital success: investment; infrastructure; and innovation.
Unfortunately, Europe is lagging behind Asia and the U.S. in all of these areas, he said.
Europe is the only region where mobile service revenues are in decline, said Borchert, who also pointed out that capex in Europe has declined 40% over the last decade, whereas the rest of the world has seen a 20% increase.
"We don’t need to be Nobel laureates to work out that these factors are leaving their mark" on Europe’s digital development, he said.
Touching on infrastructure, Borchert said that he is proud that the world’s first LTE network went live in Europe, but also embarrassed about how slowly LTE coverage is rolling out across the continent.
It took North America and South Korea six-eight quarters to cover almost 100% of the population with LTE, he said. In Europe, it has taken 26 quarters to reach 81% coverage.
Taking into account the decline in European mobile revenues and capex, and the slower rollout of LTE, Borchert asked: "in which environment is innovation in new technologies likely to happen? Where would you put your money?"
While he lauded London and Berlin for their tech hubs, he said that Europe needs more of them if it is to compete with Silicon Valley.
In order to change the status quo, Borchert said governments and regulators must create predictable investment climates, and to accelerate the drive towards a digital single market (DSM).
"Europe cannot afford to continue with its present level of fragmentation," he said.
Blocking in-market consolidation has also "stalled the investment engine," he added.
Borchert also industry players have a responsibility to drive ecosystem development through collaboration. He highlighted the recently-launched 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) as a good example of different sectors working together towards a common goal.
"Europe must change in order to be at the forefront of the massive digital wave that’s beginning to break," he said.
