To-Euro-5G: Supporting the European 5G Initiative

Project Information

To-Euro-5G

Grant agreement ID: 761338

DOI

10.3030/761338

Project closed

EC signature date 2 June 2017

Start date 1 June 2017

End date 31 August 2019

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies - Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

Total cost

€ 2 522 708,75

EU contribution

€ 2 522 708,75

Coordinated by

EURESCOM-EUROPEAN INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH AND STRATEGIC STUDIES IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS GMBH
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - To-Euro-5G (To-Euro-5G: Supporting the European 5G Initiative)

Reporting period: 2018-07-01 to 2019-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The To-Euro-5G project has a clear prime objective to support the activities of the European 5G Initiative during the second phase of the 5G PPP from June 2017 to June 2019, as outlined in the 5G contractual Public Private Partnership (cPPP) signed between the 5G Infrastructure Association (5G-I-A) and the European Commission, with the intention of maximising the return on this investment for Europe.

The 5G PPP projects selected for this phase of the 5G PPP, including To-Euro-5G, were obliged by Article 41.4 of their respective grant agreements to enact a Collaboration Agreement and participate in a number of strategic cross project horizontal activities. To-Euro-5G had the responsibility for orchestrating this agreement and we're proud to report that all the phase 2 participants were signed up to the program level collaboration agreement in record time. To-Euro-5G also introduced the phase 3 projects from ICT17, ICT18, and ICT19 into the collaboration agreement. At to-Euro-5G comes to an end there are 470 parties to the 5G PPP Collaboration Agreement.

This allowed all the projects to be full participants in the horizontal working groups and collective dissemination activities.

To-Euro-5G has implemented its strategic communications plan which is to helping the achievements and results of the projects, and the program collectively, to be visible globally and to achieve significant impact.

The approach of the To-Euro-5G project in supporting the high level goals of the 5G PPP is to maintain and enhance the competitiveness of the European ICT industry. Results of the 5G PPP are contributing to the implementation of the European 5G Action Plan and are also having a discernible impact of the evolution of the 5G standards.

The To-Euro-5G has published an overview of the 5G PPP trials & demos in Europe on its website and is actively facilitating the Trials Working Group to further its published papers and goals for trials in Europe. The work on 5G trials in Europe was greatly enhanced by the launch of the 5G-PPP phase 3 projects.

Another success of the communications and information dissemination activities of the To-Euro-5G project is the increased involvement of new players - many from the Vertical Sectors, in the phase 2 and phase 3 projects.

This will allow the 5G-PPP to prove that all sectors of industry and society can enjoy the economic and societal benefits these future 5G networks can provide.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

To-Euro-5G has continued to ensure the successful operation of the governance and operational structures even when the overlap between phases meant there were up to 40 5G PPP projects running at any one time. The simple structures and the open communications mean all projects can be fully involved and integrated in the program level activities and they have been successfully encouraged to contribute to the cross project work groups that are relevant to their work.

The project has organised and supported 7 Steering board meetings and 20 Technology Board meetings in the last period.

In addition the To-Euro-5G has been very proactive in disseminating useful publications at major events to inform people about the projects, the work they are doing, and the results that can be expected. Added to this is the successful approach of using workshops and sessions in international events to inform the community at large about upcoming calls and their opportunities to participate in project proposals. All the 5G-PPP calls to date have been oversubscribed with more projects than could be funded meeting the selection criteria and the high standards. The To-Euro-5G work with informing SMEs about the 5G-PPP has also helped the ratio of SME involvement to improve.

The project has facilitated the production and publication of a number of white papers, position papers and the program level annual report. Many of these documents were professionally printed and distributed at international events like Mobile World Congress 2018 and 2019 with a particular emphasis in the combined EUCNC/Global5G event in Valencia in June 2019.

Additionally there have been promotional videos, rapporteur assistance to the horizontal activities and commission workshops as well as direct involvement in conferences and workshops to assist the projects to promote their results.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

As a support action, the project is working to plan as a facilitator of the 5G-PPP activities. This means the project is helping the 5G-PPP community to communicate internally and externally and to operate the governance structure in an efficient way.

Through this work the To-Euro-5G can claim a share of the responsibility for the growing awareness of the European developments in 5G as reflected in the uptake and use of the 5G solutions by 3GPP in releases 15 and subsequent releases.

The potential impact of the 5G-PPP program is reflected in the 5G investment ratio assessment, designed and calculated by the To-Euro-5G project, that shows the industry investment in 5G is exceeding the projected ratio in the 5G-PPP contract tenfold or even more. As the investment in 5G moves frome the product development into the infrastructure provision phase the European investment in 5G will continue to increase dramatically.

The wider socio-economic and societal impacts are yet to be measured but the emerging availability of a pervasive communications infrastructure will dramatically assist the European Digital Agenda and the digital inclusion plans of the European member states.

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