EU operator bosses seek sovereign progress

From the MWC26 stage in Barcelona, leaders of Deutsche Telekom, Telefónica and Eutelsat argued that Europe is falling behind the US and China on digital sovereignty, and that its own rules are part of the problem. They said European telecom and satellite providers already sit at the centre of data flows and have the technical skills to offer sovereign services, but lack the scale, software ecosystems and investment conditions needed to compete.

Telefónica chair Marc Murtra said operators are well placed to guarantee sovereignty because networks already handle and route most data, but Europe still depends on foreign hyperscalers and AI tools. He warned it is unrealistic to expect long‑term access to top‑tier AI systems for industrial use without building local alternatives. Eutelsat CEO Jean‑Francois Fallacher called Europe “27 nations” rather than one market, noting governments prefer national platforms over backing regional ones, which weakens satellite players against US and Chinese giants. Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Hoettges blamed low sector margins and heavy regulation for limiting investment, and said Europe must control chips, data centres, AI, connectivity and industrial automation itself if it wants a serious role in the next wave of digital manufacturing.