We often debate the effects of 5G on health or the environment, but this technology is also an industrial issue, says a report from the national association for research and technology (ANRT), published on Tuesday, April 27. Indeed, this new mobile standard could bring the American giants of the “Cloud” like Amazon, Microsoft or Google, alert this association which brings together 370 private companies and French public structures. World leaders in online hosting “Have made 5G one of their tools of conquest” and “Their advanced and abundant computer skills make them essential resources, including for telecom operators”, cautions the report.
If 5G marks a “Rupture”, it is for a technical reason, explain the authors. Telecommunications networks “Computerize” : certain functions provided by hardware equipment are now “Virtualized”, that is, managed by computers. This change should “Upset” the industrial data value chain.
Risk of favoring their own services
Amazon, Microsoft and Google are well positioned on two levels. Their know-how in software and data centers can be useful for piloting 5G telecom networks. More broadly, their business services activity can promote them in the markets that 5G will open up around new digital uses: autonomous cars, Internet of Things or industrial IT, to run factories, for example.
By adding 5G as ” new “string to their bow” “, the dominant cloud players “Strengthen their market power”. And “Cannot be considered as competitors like the others” because “Domination is accompanied by risks of anti-competitive practices (self-reference and differentiated behavior)”, do we read. For example, these leaders could promote their own services using 5G, or those of their customers. Or take a competitive advantage from their access to data on the uses of telecom networks, to refine their offers.
To prevent risks, the report recommends “Make the platforms auditable” through “An independent competent authority”. This would verify the security of cloud services, but also their quality or interoperability, i.e. the possibility of changing providers or using several. These requirements could be made concrete within the European cloud initiative Gaia-X or in the European platform regulation project Digital Markets Act, believe the authors.
You have 39.78% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.