# Analysis of Digital Skills and Infrastructure in EU Countries Based on DESI 2024 Data
## 4 Results and Discussion
### Digital Infrastructure
The designated Frequency Range 1 (FR1) band (410 MHz-7.125 GHz) is suitable for cellular mobile communications, while the FR2 band (24.25 GHz-52.6 GHz) is ideal for high data rates, but only over short distances [26; 27]. The Digital Decade DESI visualization tool provides an opportunity to analyze in more detail the use of 5G technology, depending on its varieties. The next indicator, \"5G Coverage in the 3.4-3.8 GHz Band\", provides an estimate of the percentage of households that have 5G coverage in this spectrum band (Figure 17). The average percentage of EU households covered by 5G in the 3.4-3.8 GHz band is 50.6% and varies widely across countries, ranging from 0% in Poland to nearly 90% in Finland. The next metric, \"5G spectrum\" (Figure 18), is defined as the amount of spectrum designated and ready for 5G use in the so-called 5G pioneer bands, each of which has equal weight. The pioneer bands are the 700 MHz band (703-733 MHz and 758-788 MHz), the 3.6 GHz band (3400-3800 MHz), and the 26 GHz band (1000 MHz within 24,250-27,500 MHz). The unit of measurement is the percentage of harmonized spectrum assigned. In ten EU27 countries, the coverage rate is in the range of (95-100)%, and in the other ten, it is in the range of (59-67)%, with an average coverage rate of 73.4%. The last indicator for 5G technology is \"5G SIM cards share of population\" (Figure 19). This is a new indicator; it did not exist in DESI 2023 last year. By definition, these are 5G mobile subscriptions related to SIM cards that have generated internet traffic in the previous 90 days. The unit of measure is the percentage of the total population. Three countries have a 5G SIM card share value that exceeds 100%: Cyprus, Luxembourg, and The Netherlands. The average value for the EU is just 24.62%, while the remaining 20 countries, which make up the vast majority, use 5G SIM card services below the average. The final indicator for digital infrastructure is \"Edge nodes\" (Figure 20). This is a relatively new indicator in DESI, first appearing two years ago. Edge nodes are the basis  
Figure 19: Data on using the “5G SIM cards shared of population” indicator. Figure 18: Data on using the “5G spectrum” indicator. for edge networking, which is characterized by moving processes closer to the user, to data collection sources. For an edge network to work, clients must connect to an edge module nearby. This minimizes latency compared to communicating with remote devices. The Edge nodes indicator measures the number of deployed edge nodes that provide latencies of less than 20 ms. Twenty milliseconds is the ping from you to the destination you pinged. The total number of deployed nodes in the EU is 1186. Only three countries have more than 100 edge nodes. However, the need for such nodes depends on the country's area, so this indicator cannot directly assess the state of this technology as a whole. However, we would like to highlight the rapid growth of edge nodes in the EU countries over the past year. Figure 21 helps to do that. Figure 11:0 Growth of employed edge nodes from 2023 to 2024. Figure 11:1 Data on using the “Edge nodes” indicator. Figure 21 illustrates that, according to DESI 2023, the number of edge nodes in the EU was only 499, and according to DESI 2024, it is already 1186. That is, their number has increased by more than 2.3 times, which indicates the rapid growth of this technology over the past year. Deploying end nodes to perform computing processes closer to the sources and consumers of information allows you to reduce network latency and improve their security significantly. The increase in end nodes can become the basis for a leap in the EU digital transformation in terms of the Internet of Things, the Internet of Everything, and the automation of production processes.