Brussels in the process of becoming the capital of 5G

After lengthy negotiations, a memorandum of understanding was finally reached between the Brussels government and the country's mobile operators. The idea? Make 5G emerge in the capital by 2020. A final decision should be made before the end of the legislature

Frying on the line disappeared between Brussels and the country's mobile operators. The two parties have indeed concluded Thursday evening a Memorandum of Understanding to make the capital the first city in Belgium to deploy the 5G by 2020. It is up to us that a final decision should fall "before the end of the legislature" ie by the end of the year .

Concretely, the The agreement is divided into three parts dealing respectively with questions relating to the environment and health the economy and employment and finally ] smart city and future investments . Together, "they raise the general scope that the government and the operators wish to give to the arrival of the new technology", explains on the side of the cabinet of Rudi Vervoort, m inister President of the Government of the Region of Brussels- Capital .

Questioned, Agoria, federation of technological enterprises (which therefore represents the telecom operators), says itself " happy" to reach a result after "years" of negotiations . "A series of reciprocal commitments have been made" says Floriane de Kerchove, director in charge of telecom at Agoria, "but it will still have to materialize " , she nuanced. "We are going to follow it all closely."

Regarding timing, better late than never could we say. Indeed, despite the time taken, this is a not in the right direction that should meet the repeated demands of operators of lower the particularly strict emission standards in Brussels – fifty times stricter than what the WHO recommends, recently recalled one of the members of a council of the telecom regulator (BIPT). 19659003] A true barrier to the advent of the 5G which was besides to force Proximus to prefer Haasrode (Louvain) in Brussels to deploy a full-scale test outdoors. And until Pierre-Yves Jeholet, Walloon Minister for the Economy, Innovation and Digital, declares: " I do not understand, while Europe wants pilot cities in 5G, that Brussels does not jump at the chance, and I say it as Walloon. "Since then, he had evoked the candidacy, why not, of a Walloon city to become a pioneer of the ultra-fast mobile Internet in Belgium.