Politecnico di Milano
Aula Emilio Gatti, Building 20
Città Studi, Via Ponzio, 34/5
Milan, Italy
Friday, 11 November 2022
and virtually on line
Please find here the link to register
Overview
The latest update of the “2030 Digital Decade Policy Programme” foresees that, in the EU, all populated areas are covered by next generation wireless high-speed networks with at least 5G equivalent performance.
In accordance with the principle of technology neutrality, all technologies and transmission systems shall be able to contribute to the achievement of the Gigabit connectivity, including the current and upcoming advancements of 5G, satellite, or any other future ecosystem and next generation Wi-Fi.
However, with a number of countries failing to meet previous deadlines relating to 5G rollout and release of spectrum, participants will look at the extent to which this new framework can help address the 2030 Digital Decade Programme of the European Union targets, and which technical and regulatory solutions can help fostering connectivity in the whole of the Mediterranean.
Therefore, the European Mediterranean Regulators Group (EMERG) organizes a workshop on solutions to the connectivity challenges, including the cost of energy, focusing in particular on the role of 5G networks and comparable technologies in the Euro-Mediterranean area.
The workshop is part of the workplan 2022 under the Presidency of the Ministry of Communications (MOC) of Israel, in cooperation with the Italian National Regulatory Authority for Communications (AGCOM), the Politecnico di Milano and the Israel Institute of Technology (Technion).
The workshop will start with an overview on the main provisions currently included in the, taking into consideration the main EMERG mandate which is related to the approximation to the EU Regulatory framework for the Mediterranean Countries; eventually, it will develop the following areas of interest:
- Technology and energy costs – The technology mix: 5G, new developments in non-terrestrial networks and next generation connectivity, such as Fi-WI (Fiber to Wireless). Keeping it all together: investments and reducing energy consumption.
- Regulation – The Role of the National Regulators (NRAs): technical and regulatory options.
- Case studies – Europe and the Mediterranean Area. The role of the operators and stakeholders in fostering connectivity and innovation in different industries and countries
The meeting, hosted by Politecnico di Milano and chaired by AGCOM, will be held both in presence and online: students, operators and other stakeholders are encouraged to attend.
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| 08.30 – 09.00 | Registration |
| 09.00 – 09.10 | Opening of the meeting and welcoming of the participants |
| Massimiliano Capitanio, Commissioner, AGCOM (Italy)
Naama Henig, EMERG Chair 2022, MOC (Israel) |
|
| 09.10 – 09.30 | Introduction |
| The Role of 5G and other ecosystems in the 2030 Digital Decade Programme
Franco Accordino, Head of Unit, High-capacity networks (DG Connect, European Commission) |
|
| 09.30 – 10.30 | Future challenges in the application of the 5G technology. The technology mix: 5G, Fi-Wi, 5G over Non terrestrial networks |
| Antonio Capone, Dean of the School of Industrial and Information Engineering, (Politecnico di Milano) | |
| Maurizio Dècina, Emeritus Professor (Politecnico di Milano) | |
| Michele Zorzi, Professor Department of Information Engineering (University of Padova) | |
| Richard Majoor, (Detecon, Germany) | |
| 10.30 – 11.00 | Coffee Break |
| 11.00 – 12.00 | From digital divide to digital inclusion |
| The role of state aid in fostering connectivity
Isabel Arias Valdès, Subdirección de Regulación de Comunicaciones Electrónicas (CNMC, Spain) |
|
| Non-Terrestrial Networks: Digital Inclusion from Above
Giampaolo Panariello, CTO – Mediterranean Area (NOKIA) |
|
| Daniel Gueorguiev, Government & Policy Advocacy Director • GFMC GPA Europe (ERICSSON) | |
| Christine Arida, Board member and Advisor to the Executive President (NTRA Egypt) | |
| 12.00 – 12.30 | Regulatory challenges in developing broadband connectivity: the role of national regulators |
| Massimiliano Capitanio, Commissioner (AGCOM) | |
| Tal Elimelech, Deputy Director General, Israeli Ministry of Communication (EMERG Chair 2022) | |
| Dimitris Varoutas, Vice President, Hellenic Telecommunication and Post Commission (EETT) | |
| Jaroslaw Ponder, Head, ITU Office for Europe (International Telecommunication Union) | |
| 12.30 – 13.15 | Improving energy performance in 5G networks |
| Daniele Franceschini, Technology and IT Planning, Engineering & Innovation, (TIM) | |
| Marco Zangani, Network Director Italy & Mobile Access Engineering (Vodafone) | |
| Fulvio Margherita, Radio Network Planning and Operation Director (WindTre) | |
| 13.15 – 13.45 | Case studies |
| The application of 5G networks in the industrial structures of the future. The 5G smart factory
Andrea Malagnini, CIO (EXOR International) |
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| Aviram Shmueli , CTO (Blue White Robotics) | |
| Elind Sulmina,Project Officer at ITU Office for Europe (International Telecommunication Union) | |
| 13.45 – 14.00 | Conclusions (AGCOM) |
EMERG has recently held its first Plenary Assembly for 2022 both physically and virtually. During the meeting chaired by Naama Henig (Ministry of Israel MOC), EMERG had the opportunity to discuss about the future of the Group as of 2023, when the European Commission financial support will be not granted.
To this aim an EMERG delegation met the European Commission representatives before the Assembly to investigate on the EMERG possibilities to be part of the European big project related to the Mediterranean area which will cover different strategic sectors including the electronic communications networks and services: in 2022 EMERG is committed to provide with a strategic paper concerning the most relevant topics of both interest, looking at the approximation to the European regulatory framework as a main goal to achieve.
Furthermore, the Assembly approved the following documents:
2021 Annual Report
2021 Benchmark Report
EMERG Report on Digital Platforms
The EMERG Assembly will be reconvened at the end of the year to update the Members on pending issues and to appoint the Chair 2023 and the Permanent Secretariat.
Brussels, 31 May 2022
On 9 May 2022, EMERG held its Benchmark/contact network meeting in Tel Aviv (Israel): it was the kick-off meeting of the EMERG season 2022 looking forward to the next Plenary meeting in Brussels which will take place at IRG Office on 31st May: to this regard, EMERG is willing to express gratitude to the BEREC Chair 2022, Annemarie Sipeks (ACM), who made it possible considering the continuous and fruitful relations between the two regional Groups, reaffirmed recently by a further Memorandum of Understanding.
Liran Avisar ben Hurin, Director General of the Ministry of Communications (MoC, Israel) welcomed all the participants and introduced the 2022 first meeting, taking the opportunity to thank the European Commission for the constant support and looking forward the next projects together: “ICT is truly the new normal: connectivity is the fuel of this digital transformation and by definition the opposite of division. By bringing our expertise and creating a dialogue, we create a language of regional development and growth in our region. Together we can create a collaborative network of expertise and drive regulatory harmonization forward.”
The EMERG CN, chaired by Naama Henig, Head of the International Affairs Department (MoC), went through all the preparatory documents that are going to be approved by the Plenary in Brussels, such as the draft 2022 Benchmark report, the 2021 Annual Report and all the reports from the different Experts working groups, along with the Work plan 2022. In addition, a fruitful preliminary discussion was held regarding the future of EMERG starting from 2023 with the support of the European Commission and of all EMERG relevant partners.
Tel Aviv, 09.05.2022
According to the EMERG 2021-2022 Work Programme, and under the Expert Working Group on Communication, a series of webinars was conducted since December 2021, provided by experts from EMERG members on various matters relevant to the regulatory authorities. So far, the following webinars have taken place:
. 2 December 2021, presentation by CNMC, the Spanish on “Demand side data: The CNMC Household Panel”;
. 15 December 2021, presentation by ANACOM, the Portuguese regulator, on “NET.mede tool”;
. 20 December 2021, presentation by BTK, the Turkish regulator on “Turkish consumer protection regulations under development to tackle new challenges arising from rapid uptake of new telecommunications/ICT services”;
. 27 January 2022, presentation by ANACOM, on “International connectivity: challenges and opportunities”;
. 10 February 2022, presentation by ANACOM, on “Regulated access offers to poles and ducts”;
. 24 February 2022, presentation by ANACOM, on “Submarine cables”;
. 31 March 2022, presentation by ARCEP, the French regulator, on “Achieving Digital Sustainability”.
So far, this Platform has proven to be a win-win project, as it enables delivering focused overviews on topics of interest to all, building it from the available expertise from different resources (beginning by EMERG members, institutional partners and external stakeholders).