Deutsche Telekom’s Chief Executive Officer Timotheus Hottges insisted that Europe isn’t lagging behind the United States and Asia on developing 5G technologies. While speaking at the latest iteration of Mobile World Congress (MWC) on Tuesday, Hottges pointed out how 5G deployment hasn’t started anywhere in the world yet, concluding that Europe cannot be lagging behind other territories if everyone has yet to start deploying 5G. The company’s CEO added how Europe has all of the necessary prerequisites to spearhead the development and deployment of the next generation of mobile cellular technologies.
Deutsche Telekom is already prepared to lead the 5G initiative in Europe, Hottges said, revealing how the Bonn, Germany-based wireless carrier already has a plan to provide 5G connectivity to all areas it’s currently servicing. While the company’s official didn’t want to go into specifics regarding the execution of that plan, his comments implied that Deutsche Telekom will start commercializing 5G technologies once all relevant standards are defined come 2020. Claudia Nemat, one of the wireless carrier’s board members arrived at MWC to talk about some new advancements the company made in 5G space in the last 12 months. Among other things, she said Deutsche Telekom will be able to guarantee a latency of 8ms over longer periods of time once the company deploys its 5G infrastructure, adding how such a low latency will allow for various innovations in a number of industries.
Hottges used MWC 2017 as an opportunity to call for European regulators to assist wireless service providers across the Old Continent in developing and deploying 5G infrastructure by offering subsidies and reducing spectrum costs. Current estimates predict that costs of deploying 5G networks across the entire continent will amount to between €300 billion and €500 billion, Deutsche Telekom’s executive said, vividly adding how commercializing the fifth generation of mobile networks entails much more than “putting antennas on a roof.” Apart from talking about 5G-related plans, Deutsche Telekom also arrived at this year’s Barcelona-based trade show to demonstrate its 5G guaranteed latency (GLA) in collaboration with Samsung. More details on the company’s ambitions in the 5G sector are expected to follow later this year.