Leading ICT Policymakers at Global Forum: 5G Set to Emerge as Dominant Global Business Platform

OULU, Finland, September 28, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Next generation 5G wireless networks are likely to prove the next major step in the evolution of new business online. The world's leading ICT policy makers see the 5G revolution as the greatest positive upheaval in the field since the creation of the GSM standard in the early 1990s.

Radio frequencies are the most critical natural resource affecting global development. These are controlled and administered by regulators. It is extremely vital to reserve sufficient frequency spectrums for future 5G use. By ensuring this, regulators can play a major role in the positive development of mobile networking and improve the lives of virtually every global citizen.

"Possible business areas and models to benefit from 5G networks can range from health care and security to retail and manufacturing, and everything inbetween. Fast 5G networks can become a powerful enabler for businesses, but only if the regulators allow the frequencies to be used without prohibitively steep license fees", said Matti Pennanen, Mayor of Oulu.

"The Davos of ICT" Debates 5G 

Experts agree that 5G can act as a strong base for controlled, operator-independent data networking, and initiate a new, open business platform alongside the current framework. An operator-independent mode of working is highly important in enabling 5G mobile services especially indoors. The success of future Internet of Things solutions depend on this model: current operator-controlled business models do not offer sufficient support for their development.

"Regulators are soon set to face an unavoidable moment of truth. Will they have enough courage to make radical choices in allocating and licensing radio frequencies to push positive development? The US has already taken the first decisive steps in this direction - will Europe be left behind?" said Professor Matti Latva-aho of University of Oulu.

These questions and challenges will be debated this week at Global Forum, "the Davos of ICT". This year the Forum is hosted by the Finnish city of Oulu, a hotspot for developing next generation mobile networks. For already 40 years, Oulu has been acquiring the know-how and skills to emerge as the leader in radio technology ecosystems. The world's first 5G test network was opened in Oulu in May 2015 as a joint effort between businesses, the University of Oulu, and the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.

Webcast: 

You can watch a recorded webcast from the Global Forum 2015 press conference here: https://livestream.com/sahaprod/globalforum/

Themes and speakers of the webcast:

Role of digitalization and its purpose in the future

Paavo Lipponen, Former Prime Minister of Finland

Matti Pennanen, Mayor of Oulu

Jouko Niinimäki, Rector, University of Oulu

Markku Markkula, President, Committee of the regions, European Union

Sébastien Lévy, Vice-President Global Forum

5G future development

Matti Latva-Aho, Chair Professor Department of Digital Transmission Techniques, University of Oulu, Finland

Jorgen Abild Andersen , Chairman Committee on Digital Economy Policy, OECD, Denmark

Wladimir Bocquet , Head of Policy Planning GSMA Association

Luis Jorge Romero, Director General ETSI - European Telecommunications Standards Institute --

The City of Oulu 

Oulu is the capital of Northern Scandinavia and blends a creative atmosphere with high technology, entrepreneurship and highly skilled people, the unique culture of a modern seaside town and a vibrant countryside.  

Oulu has a strong portfolio of globally focused technology companies and universities combined with young and creative citizens. The area has proved to be an excellent environment to create new innovations. Oulu's unique ecosystem enables utilization of the latest radio technologies, like 5G. 

Global Forum

The Global Forum/Shaping the Future is an internationally recognized think-tank for exchange and networking among governments at national, regional & local levels, private & public organizations and research & development experts. 

The Global Forum is an independent, high profile, international, non-for-profit event dedicated to business and policy issues affecting the successful evolution of the Digital Society. The Global Forum brings each year in a different city around the world more than 300 key policy-makers and public/private stakeholders from more than 30 countries from all continents, often considered as the Davos for ICT.