5G in Europe:
Time to Change Gear!
Part 1

2G in 1991, 3G in 1998, 4G in 2008... 5G in 2020! The latest generation of networks is almost here, and it is more than an incremental progression compared to 4G. 

Why? Because 5G represents a technological leap: it will radically change industrial production processes, public services, medicine as well as the management and distribution of water, gas and electricity, among others. It is also at the origin of new consumer services, and will therefore encourage the emergence of major players and a new digital ecosystem. While the field of application that 5G opens is unprecedented, it is not without risks.
 

This work was written by Achour Messas, Member of the Executive Board and Partner at Mazars, as well as Julien Huvé, Laurent Inard and David Luponis, Partners at Mazars. It was supervised by Gilles Babinet, Advisor on Digital Issues at Institut Montaigne.

While 3G and 4G have changed the lives of individuals thanks to the development of smartphones, 5G primarily concerns economic actors, and specifically industries, by creating new ecosystems and usages. 

5G is a breakthrough technology. This means that it will enable the transformation of many sectors of the economy through three factors: 

• Unprecedented responsiveness (thanks to high-speed access and low latency - delay in data transmission over a network ) for demanding applications (telesurgery, autonomous cars, smart grids, industrial automation, etc.);
• A decentralised structure, which enables the development of the Internet of Things (IoT) , used in augmented reality, mobility, industrial production, or energy.
• A slicing capability according to usage, which will accelerate the development of cloud computing (the processing of data on servers in a different location than the one where the data are generated).  

This technology will enable the massive deployment of the Internet of Things, which will play an essential role in the field of mobility, augmented reality, industrial production and energy networks. With the use of edge computing (the processing of data in a location close to the one where the data are generated), operators will be able to provide new offers to the general public and manufacturers, such as the service of driving autonomous vehicles or assisted maintenance thanks to augmented reality. 5G will also provide answers to the challenges of territorial connectivity and access to public services.
 

5G and sovereignty issues

In the era of cloud computing, and tomorrow of edge computing, virtualised infrastructures are becoming increasingly important for operators. This implies significant storage and processing of data which are not subject to any regulatory framework - except the GDPR. In a market dominated by American players and Chinese infrastructure, Europe and France are at risk of dependence and vulnerability.

5G and security

With 5G, entire business sectors and new uses will be highly dependent on the network’s availability, providing hackers with a new playing field. 

• Will it be possible for an equipment manufacturer to shut down a whole network ?

Today, the risk concerns the possibility or not for an equipment manufacturer to insert a backdoor into the computer code. In the most extreme scenario this would allow the manufacturer to shut down the network remotely. It is not possible to check whether or not a back door exists: as with any telecom product or information system, the code is updated regularly. As a result, even regular access to the code is ineffective in ensuring that security is mastered. Moreover, systematically validating it before each use is unrealistic. Trust in the selected equipment manufacturer is therefore essential. 

• Will it be possible for an equipment manufacturer to spy on the data?

Theoretically, equipment manufacturers can spy on the data transiting through their products. However, operators retain at all time visibility over the data entering or leaving their core network (even if the core network is decentralised, as is the case with 5G). They can therefore see any data leaks in their equipment. Given this background, we can only encourage the development of tools to monitor data flows through their network equipment.