Telecom
Börje Ekholm, Ericsson CEO Urges Europe to Act Fast on 5G or Lose Out
Europe needs urgent and decisive action if it is to benefit from the competitive and innovative capabilities of 5G or it will lose out to the U.S., China, and other regions, Ericsson President and CEO, Börje Ekholm, has warned.
In a keynote address – Europe and 5G: the need for speed – to an audience of international political and business leaders, start-ups, and innovators at the Viva Technology Conference in Paris on May 16, Ekholm called on European governments and regulators to act fast to remove barriers hindering speedy 5G roll out.
Ekholm highlighted Ericsson’s ability to roll out 5G now for customers anywhere in the world by pointing to live commercial 5G networks with lead customers in the U.S., Korea, and Swisscom in Switzerland. He said commercial 5G launches are also close in other regions.
But unlike the US and Asia he said Europe as a whole lacks a concerted regulatory effort to facilitate the speedy realization of 5G digitalization. Failure to quickly address this means the region will be at a competitive disadvantage, he warned.
“It’s time to speed up 5G in Europe,” he said. “We can’t afford to have our European entrepreneurs and enterprises innovate on an old and aging infrastructure. 5G must be seen as a critical national infrastructures – just as vital as trains or ports or airports.”
Ekholm said this mindset already exists in the U.S. Asia, and elsewhere.
“The US and China sees 5G as a critical national infrastructure and the backbone of digitalizing society.”
He said Europe had the same approach when 4G was launched, failing to act on the technology, while the US and Asia pressed ahead, resulting in Europe falling three-to-four years behind.
It was no coincidence, he said, that big 4G winners such as Alibaba, Netflix, and Tencent – emerged from the U.S. and China, and not Europe.
“It’s up to countries to decide if they want to be part of the revolution that 5G is going to bring,” he said.
Other actions
Ekholm said 5G spectrum must be made available in a coordinated fashion and at reasonable prices to catalyze the roll-out of digital infrastructure.
“Today a spectrum auction is deemed a success if it raises the maximum amount of money for the tax income of the government,” he said, “But the reality is that we need to factor in all the other benefits you would get from rapidly building out the telecom infrastructure.”
Ekholm also called for action on the length of spectrum licenses, saying the current approach in Europe results in investment uncertainty among operators in the latter part of a licensing period.
Security
On security, Ekholm stressed Ericson’s commitment to working with others to ensure that security concerns are addressed and answered, in a way that doesn’t defeat the purpose of the technology.
“With 5G, when we have the ability to connect every ‘thing’ security is of course of critical importance,” he said. “End-to-end 5G security was actually factored-in when 5G was designed.”
But as with every system in the history of technology, Ekholm said it is not possible to always guarantee 100 percent security.
“Given the complexity of future architecture, and future networks, the security in 5G will not only depend on the equipment in the networks. It will also depend on the security solutions deployed, and the operating parameters of the network – basically decisions the operator will make.
“We see large enterprises reaching out to us to ask about the resiliency of 5G networks and also IPR theft,” he said. “The question about security is a global question and it’s going to be big.”
“Ultimately, we believe operators will make choices for what kind of customers they will serve and what kind of network and operations they are going to have, and that will drive how the security looks.”
Ekholm said this was why Ericsson doesn’t ´believe that extensive post-development testing is the solution.
“Actually, we believe that post-development testing and source code disclosure risks creating a false sense of security. In modern software development we have continuous deployments. For example, we have new feature roll out every two weeks. So, if we are going through that testing cycle it will just delay the introduction of new features.”
Ekholm closed by addressing how 5G could help to create a more sustainable Europe.
“Ericsson’s purpose is to empower an intelligent, sustainable, and connected world,” he said. “5G will be fundamental in reducing carbon emissions, spurring inclusive growth, but also helping achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.”
French President Emmanuel Macron; Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau; and former US Secretary of State John Kerry, were among the main stage speakers on Day One of the Viva Technology conference, as well as several major tech CEOs.
Telecommunication subscribers under the aegis of Association of Telephone, Cable TV and Internet Subscribers of Nigeria (ATCIS-Nigeria), at the weekend rejected the 30-60 per cent tariff increase proposed by Bosun Tijani, minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, insisting that there should be no increase for now.
ATCIS-Nigeria said Tijani cannot speak for them, saying there is no conclusion on the tariff increase yet.
Sina Bilesanmi, national president, ATCIS-Nigeria in a statement, said a tariff hike was not one of the issues agreed upon with the regulator in Abuja, wondering why the minister is interested in hiking tariffs to the detriment of struggling Nigerians still reeling under the impact of economic reforms.
He said the minister’s statement was contrary to the agreements reached between the Consumer Bureau Department of the Commission of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and stakeholders at a meeting convened on January 9, 2025, at the NCC headquarters in Abuja.
According to him, what was agreed upon at the January 9 Abuja meeting was that there would be no telecoms tariff hike for now until all the stakeholders, particularly the subscribers, are sufficiently enlightened and sensitised.
Recall that the minister, in a TV interview, had said even though the mobile network operators (MNOs) were demanding a 100 per cent increase to stabilise the sector, the government knew that such a level of increase would be harmful to the people.
On the threshold of the expected hike, he said: “I think it should not be more than anywhere between 30 to 60 per cent. We have already made it clear that we are not going to approve 100 per cent. These companies are asking for 100 per cent, stating clearly that this is what they believe they need to get.
“But what we are looking at in terms of the sector is that if this is the sector that is responsible for driving growth in our country, it will be harmful to our people to allow MNOs to increase by 100 per cent.”
However, Bilesanmi said it was not the duty of the minister to speak for tariff pricing, insisting that it is the responsibility of the NCC which has already started doing the consultation to do data-based empirical cost analysis.
He said the minister has no power to fix prices in a liberalised market.
“Our resolution was, one, that the telecom operators need to respect the telecom subscriber advocacy body and the act of NCC; that the NCC should tell the telcos to first meet with ATCIS being the telecom subscriber advocacy body for consultation, involvement, enlightenment, and engagement; that once telecom subscriber advocacy body agreed, it will call for public opinions on the per cent rate, and that ATCIS will then write NCC for approval, and anything outside of these may not work.
“As subscribers, we should be in collaboration with NCC because we’re the ones paying the money involved. We agreed at the meeting that there will be no hike but further deliberation and consultation on the issue with relevant stakeholders, especially the MNOs and the subscribers would continue.
“The MNOs, through their representatives (ATCON and ALTON), were supposed to organise an enlightenment/sensitisation programme to address the issues. The MNOs were supposed to discuss the percentage increment with the subscribers’ representatives after which it will be taken to the subscribers for discussion. At the end of the meetings, we were expected to communicate an equilibrium price (a fair price agreeable to all) to the NCC for final approval,” he said.
According to Bilesanmi, any tariff hike will do more harm than good to the subscribers at a time when they are struggling to cope.
“It will further impoverish our members, especially small business owners whose offices and shops are their mobile phones and laptops. A hike in voice and data prices without recourse to the subscribers will spell doom for their business,” he said, adding that it might slow down the gains of the government’s digital economy ambition.
“ATCIS is the leading telecom subscriber advocacy body in Nigeria with over 220 million members across 36 states in the six geo-political zones in Nigeria.
“It has a mission to promote mutual co-existence, and fair play, and defend the rights of telecom subscribers, by endorsing and ensuring good products and network service delivery from network operators and service providers to our corporate and individual members, while providing a platform to advance the rights of Telephone, Cable Tv and Internet Subscribers.”
MTN Nigeria Communications (MTNN) Plc has raised the sum of N42.20 billion through the commercial paper (CP) issuance.
Karl Toriola, chief executive officer, MTN Nigeria
The company in a statement signed by Uto Ukpanah, its secretary, notified Nigerian Exchange Limited and the investing public of the successful completion of its Series 15 and 16 Commercial Paper issuance under the Company’s N250 billion Commercial Paper Issuance Programme where the Company raised N42.20 billion.
It added that “the 180-day and 270-day CP were issued at yields of 27.50 per cent and 29.00 per cent, respectively, with an issue date of December 23, 2024.
This follows the successful completion of two prior CP issuances in the last two months.”
MTNN stated that the proceeds will be applied towards the Company’s short-term working capital requirements.
Karl Toriola, chief executive officer, MTN Nigeria, said, “we are grateful for the success of this transaction which underscores investor confidence in MTN Nigeria’s business model and management team.
“The CP Issuance is part of our established funding strategy and would not have been possible without the unwavering support of the investor community, as well as our advisers.”
MTN Nigeria has been actively raising funds through its N250 billion Commercial Paper Issuance Programme, a strategic initiative designed to support its operational and business goals.
The recent Series 15 and 16 issuances achieved an 84.4 per cent subscription, reflecting ongoing investor interest. On November 29, 2024, the company successfully launched Series 13 and 14 Commercial Papers, offering yields of 27.50 per cent for the 181-day tenor and 29.00 per cent for the 270-day tenor.
Initially aimed at N50 billion, these issuances saw overwhelming demand, resulting in an oversubscription of 144 per cent and ultimately raising N72.18 billion.
The 2023 Subscriber/Network Performance Report of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has shown that consumers’ telecommunication spending hit N5.30 trillion in 2023.
The recent figure is a 37.54 percent increase from the N3.86 trillion recorded in 2022.
According to NCC, the increase in spending was fuelled by a spike in data consumption, which translated to higher revenues for telecom operators including mobile network operators, fixed wired, internet service providers, and other telecom services.
“The total volume of data consumed by subscribers increased to 713,200.62TB as of December 2023 from 518,381.78TB as of December 2022. This represents an increase of 37.58 percent in data consumption within the period. The increased data consumption is indicative of the increasing appetite and use for data by consumers,” the NCC said.
This increase in data consumption coincides with only a margin increase in voice calls, with total outgoing calls hitting 205.29 billion minutes, a 0.59 percent increase from the 204.09 billion minutes recorded in 2022.
The total number of active subscriptions increased from 222.57 million in 2022 to 224.71 million, attributed to subscriber loyalty, promos, aggressive consumer acquisition drive, and competitive product offerings across all the networks.
NCC stated that internet subscribers increased from 154.85 million in 2022 to 163.84 million in 2023, and broadband penetration declined from 47.36 percent to 43.71 percent.
This growth in internet consumption has continued into 2024, thanks to increased streaming services and smartphone penetration.
It would be recalled that Karl Toriola, chief executive officer of MTN Nigeria, recently noted that telecom companies are set to benefit from increased demand for data services, which has become the primary driver of telecom revenue.
Between January and September 2024, MTN Nigeria and Airtel Nigeria reported combined data revenues of N1.63 trillion, up from N254.32 billion in the same period of 2019. Over this time, voice revenues—once the primary income source for telcos—grew by only 70.74 percent to N1.44 trillion.
Data usage per user has grown, with MTNN reporting that its average data usage per user rose to 11.3GB in September 2024 from 7.8GB in March 2023.
For Airtel Nigeria, monthly usage increased from 2.8GB in March 2021 to 8.1GB in September 2024.
“We are positioning ourselves to capture the opportunities of growth for the next 10 years. The demand for data in Nigeria is exceptional and will continue to grow,” Toriola stated.
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