30 January 2025
5G as Key to Europe’s Digital Transformation

The European 5G Conference on 28-29 January 2025 in Brussels, Belgium brought together industry leaders, policymakers, and experts to discuss the future of 5G and its impact on Europe’s digital transformation. During his keynote speech, the BEREC Chair Robert Mourik (ComReg, Ireland) highlighted BEREC’s aim of helping to establish an appropriate new regulatory framework, fit for purpose. Reflecting on BEREC's input to the European Commission's public consultation on the White Paper How to master Europe's digital infrastructure needs?, he highlighted competition as remaining the most powerful tool for ensuring operators have incentives to invest and innovate. He highlighted that 5G is a crucial enabler of Europe’s digital transformation, emphasizing its role in advancing innovation, connectivity, and economic growth.
BEREC notes the growing importance of network security and resilience in Europe and globally. Katja Kmet Vrcko (AKOS, Slovenia), the Co-Chair of the BEREC Cybersecurity and Resilience Working Group, highlighted at the Fireside chat regulation as being helpful, however, certainly not being a solution. Instead, the focus should be on cooperation between institutions, and exchanging of information and good practices. The discussion explored the measures taken by both connectivity providers and regulators to mitigate risks, as well as the possible cybersecurity challenges, securing the next-generation networks.