Connect Europe Videos

Equity Research Director at Barclays on why EU merger control should also consider investment capacity, sector sustainability, and Europe’s investment sovereignty — especially in telecoms.

Analysys Mason’s Rupert Wood previews the State of Digital Communications 2026 findings: Europe is lagging peers on 5G coverage, 5G Standalone, and take-up, even as fixed fibre coverage is improving and edging ahead of the US.

The big constraint is structural — Europe combines lower revenues and lower investment than other advanced economies, with investment at 54% of US levels and revenue per capita at 38%.

This weakens incentives to fund new services and wider coverage, pushing operators toward efficiency over growth.

Dominique Leroy stresses the urgent need for the Digital Networks Act to modernise outdated telecom regulation and stimulate investment in fibre, 5G, and digital infrastructure. She calls for simpler rules and the removal of ex ante regulation to create a framework that truly favours investment. Highlighting Deutsche Telekom’s initiatives, Leroy points to the company’s participation in the AI Gigafactory to strengthen Europe’s digital sovereignty, as well as a partnership with Perplexity to democratise AI access through affordable AI-powered devices.

Telefonica's Chairman and CEO Marc Murtra calls for greater scale and investment in digital technologies to boost Europe’s global competitiveness. He warns that Europe’s telecom sector remains highly fragmented, and stresses that consolidation and scale are essential to enable investment.

Ms. Figueiredo urges EU policymakers to reform outdated telecom regulation and design a new policy framework that enables the next wave of investment and fosters innovation, security, and digital sovereignty in Europe. She warns that market fragmentation, such as Portugal’s four operators for just ten million people, limits the ability to invest in cutting-edge networks and security.

Figueiredo highlights MEO’s role in securing Portugal’s digitalised electoral registers for the European elections and its innovative bundled offer combining telecom and energy services to drive growth and strengthen connectivity.

Thomas Arnoldner warns that Europe’s telecom industry is at a critical turning point, describing it as the “last chance to get things right.” He highlights the sector’s stagnation and excessive fragmentation, calling for simplification and scale to foster the investment needed for cloud, AI, and next-generation connectivity. Arnoldner stresses that 270 regulators with differing rules prevent a true single market, and points to A1’s Exoscale — a native European cloud based on open source — as their key contribution to Europe’s digital sovereignty.

Chief Executive Officer (by assignment) of our Cypriot member Georgios Metzakis says Europe must move beyond incremental steps and adopt bold action through the Digital Networks Act. He notes CYTA’s nationwide fibre and 5G rollout and stresses the need to remove barriers to investment and scale so Europe does not fall behind.

Our Senior Director of Public Policy and Advocacy Paolo Grassia presents the main outcomes of the new study "The Telecom Sector's Contribution to Europe's Security and Resilience", prepared by Copenhagen Economics and commissioned by Connect Europe.

A delegation of Connect Europe, including members of our Advocacy Working Group, attend the European Parliament's Strasbourg session in October 2025, underlining the main priorities for their companies.

According to the new report from Arthur D Little for Connect Europe, the telecom customer experience is affected by 34 separate regulatory requirements — coming from 9 telecom-specific and 19 broader EU laws — with national differences adding further complexity. Our Deputy Director General Maarit Palovirta outlines what simplification means for telecoms.

Europe leading Internet Governance discussions this year, with Norway hosting and EVP Virkkunen showing support for the multistakeholder model. Hear Alessandro and Maarit’s highlights on the role of EU industry and of telecom operators.