There have been two major 5G announcements in the Nordic region lately. The first one was the Prime Ministers of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland having signed a Letter of Intent committing all five countries to creating the public-sector conditions needed for 5G and digitalization to flourish in the Nordics.
A week after this announcement, the European Investment Bank signed a €250 million loan agreement with Ericsson [1] to boost the vendor’s R&D efforts around 5G. This shows that 5G is becoming a regional competitive edge and a political issue to create jobs as well as staying ahead in the race of innovation, as the Nordic region has been a leader for some time.
A research report by the global telecommunications research firm Analysys Mason and Deloitte Consulting establishes for example that China holds a lead in overall 5G readiness, ahead of South Korea and the United States. This illustrates that 5G is not just a new technology, it is much more important. It is also a way of competing between regions, providing the best infrastructure to enable and drive innovation. What’s happening in the Nordics, will for sure strengthen the 5G offering in the region and it will be positive for all companies working within 5G technology and all new innovations this will bring.
As you might have noticed, Sivers IMA received funding for 5G development and research from Vinnova and it seems clear there will be more initiatives from the government to support the development of 5G, following the Nordic Prime Ministers’ announcement. As further proof points of the interest in 5G, Sivers IMA has signed agreements with two new 5G product partners in the last couple of weeks. These companies sell equipment all over the world and they are now developing 5G products which shows the need for 5G mmWave solutions to support the coming 5G network buildout all over the world.
Therefore, we are very optimistic about the Nordic region focusing on 5G, something we believe will lead to increased investments in 5G networks and secure future innovation in the region.
Anders Storm
CEO
Sivers IMA
