The GSMA and European Telecommunications Network Operators' Association (ETNO) have welcomed Commissioner Thierry Breton's call for a "whatever it takes" moment for telecom policy, in light of its essential role in ensuring EU competitiveness in the global tech race.
"We support the European Commission’s continued focus and leadership in seeking to address the investment gap in Europe’s digital infrastructure as well as the need for increased EU leadership in the connectivity value chain. The results of the consultation clearly validate the need for additional investment, with a view to support the roll-out of resilient 5G and fiber infrastructure, the transition to virtualized networks, but also to cope with increased data traffic and new security requirements," GSMA and ETNO said in their press releases.
Given the 2030 Digital Decade targets, both organizations call for an expedited process and momentum to present, debate and advance the "Digital Networks Act."
"It is important to urgently address the consultation’s findings, with concrete action in areas such the investment gap, the financial sustainability of the sector, scale, innovation as well as simplification and streamlining of regulation."
As outlined in Commissioner Breton’s statement, this implies, among others; establishing a real telecom single market in which operators achieve the required scale; making network investment more attractive by addressing low returns, developing a new financing model and tackling spectrum issues; and recognizing the industry's strategic importance from the perspective of digital sovereignty.
The GSMA and ETNO are eager to see how the commission will use all policy levers to address the investment gap, including the issue of a fair share through contributions from Large Traffic Generators, which has also been requested by the European Parliament.
