Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson president and CEO Börje Ekholm is of the view that 5G will have a big impact on the economy and that it's important for everyone to embrace it soon. (Filepix by Reuters)

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (March 5): Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson president and chief executive officer Börje Ekholm has warned other countries not to make the same mistake Europe did with the fifth generation (5G) network.

The Swedish executive said Europe is moving too slowly with 5G, and other countries should avoid falling behind. He is of the view that 5G will have a big impact on the economy and that it's important for everyone to embrace it soon.

“The US has outgrown Europe over the past 15-20 years. If you look at Facebook, Google, Netflix and Amazon, all these big tech companies are providing services to the consumers by leveraging the 4G network.

"Europe pretty much has nothing on that. Europe, by not investing into 4G, actually fell behind. And now, the same thing is actually happening with 5G,” Ekholm said during a fireside chat at the LEAP 2024, a global technology event held at the Riyadh Exhibition and Convention Centre on Monday.

He went on to say that the problem for Europe is that it has put itself on a path to becoming a region that has good foods and great arts, but it has “no industry”.

“Nowadays, if you visit a European country, most likely you will be landed on a 3G network. It’s a huge issue. Europe had tried to lead with regulation, it didn’t work out. Europe should have led with innovation, but unfortunately, it went the wrong way,” said Ekholm.

According to him, about two decades ago, Europe believed it would not make any money by investing into 4G. That’s because Europe thought its 3G network was good enough, and that that was actually true then.

“But what followed later was that Europe failed to see the prospects of what the new technology could bring. And as we have seen, 4G has fully digitalised the consumers, and Europe is now lagging behind,” he observed.

Ekholm said the Western Europe had been considered as the leader in mobile connectivity about 20 years ago. However, during the 4G era, most of the applications were created in China and the US.

“Why was that the case? That’s because those were the first two countries that rolled out a strong data network for mobile, which is 5G, nationwide,” he said.

Stockholm-headquartered Ericsson is a multinational networking and telecommunications giant that currently has 158 live 5G networks across the globe, spanning 67 countries.

Closer at home, Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB) had in July 2021 announced that it has appointed Ericsson (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd as its network equipment provider to design and build the National 5G Network at a total cost of RM11 billion.

Interestingly, Ekholm highlighted that today, there are 8.5 billion mobile subscriptions globally, and there are more mobile phones than toothbrushes in the world.

“People could use 4G to make video calls and to make payments. It’s a spectacular development. But 5G is the next big thing and it is a completely new generation. Its performance is 10 times faster than 4G.

"But to me, 5G is not just about technology. Yes, technology is important, but what excites me even more are the things that 5G could enable, what we humans can do now going forward,” he elaborated.

For example, said Ekholm, 5G could democratise innovation.

“With 5G, you could innovate anywhere in the world and send your applications globally. You don’t need to be in Silicon Valley to develop the next generation application.

"The economic impact of 5G is already big, but it’s going to get even bigger. Today, everyone is talking about generative artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud, all these digital technologies require mobile connectivity,” he said.

In fact, said Ekholm, green transition also cannot happen without connectivity.

“In a network that depends on wind power, solar power, and other renewable energy, you need to fully digitalise your network,” he explained.

Ekholm further said that when it comes to the capability of 5G, “we are only scratching the surface” in the new era.

Nevertheless, he acknowledged that today, about three billion people are not connected to the internet, and this is a problem that needs to be solved.

“We are making progress, but we are not moving fast enough. Ultimately, we need to have everyone connected. Otherwise, how are you going to run government services in a digital world?” Ekholm asked.