EU agrees deadline for 5G internet plan

EU countries agreed, in a deal with the EU parliament on Wednesday, to a 30 June 2020 deadline by which the migration should be finished.

However, the 2020 deadline is not completely binding.

“If they are unable to do this, a delay of up to two years is possible in duly justified cases,” said a press release by the Council of the EU, where national governments meet.

What constitutes a “justified case” is not defined in the press release.

It did say that “the coordinated use of a key frequency band ... will allow for higher speeds and better access to mobile internet across Europe”.

“This means better connectivity everywhere,” said Arpad Ersek, Slovak transport minister in the press release.

EU countries also agreed to create national plans for organising the frequency reassignment.

While the commission had originally proposed that these plans should be ready by 30 June 2017, the compromise deal gives them until 30 June 2018.

Still, EU digital single market commissioner Andrus Ansip welcomed the deal on coordinating radio frequencies, referred to as radio spectrum in EU circles.

“Better spectrum coordination is vital to provide higher quality internet to all Europeans,” said Ansip.

"It paves the way for 5G, the next generation of communication networks, and the internet of things."

The spectrum rules were proposed by the commission in February, but were expected to face opposition because states see auctioning of bandwidth as a valuable resource, and they were wary that the commission would want that income.

Ansip's predecessor Neelie Kroes failed in a previous attempt to set EU-wide spectrum rules.