While requests for deregulation and in-market mobile consolidation were nothing new, there was a clear sense that increasing the speed of action has now been made an equivalent priority
The EC promised to focus on reducing bureaucracy but was careful not to overcommit
On 23 September 2025, Assembly attended the annual FT/Connect Europe Forum in Brussels. Alessandro Gropelli (Director General, Connect Europe) opened the event with a call for EU policymakers to implement the recommendations of Draghi Report – something he stated has been talked about extensively in public but warned that without action the status quo would silently win behind closed doors. Gropelli’s request was acknowledged by Henna Virkkunen (EVP, EC) who – while clearly careful in her wording – recognised the need to update the bloc’s telecoms regulation, particularly to drive the investment needed to meet its connectivity targets. Virkkunen considered that the sector does not necessarily need more rules, stating that the focus should be on cutting red tape and reducing overlaps in order to create a harmonised and simplified framework. She added that if there is no action at the EU level, Member States would move unilaterally (something we’ve already started to see play out with Member States creating their own rules). Virkkunen rejected the idea that there was a lack of urgency with the EC, claiming that it has achieved a lot over the past nine months, particularly with respect to security. Vittorio Colao (former Minister for Technological Innovation and Digital Transformation, Italy) suggested the EC should work on Saturdays and take fewer holidays to make progress – something he considered would be a serious sign to industry that policymakers acknowledge the sense of urgency.
Operator CEOs want action but are unsure whether the Digital Networks Act will live up to expectations
Related concerns around progress and urgency, especially in putting the measures of the Draghi Report into effect, were a key theme of the day, with both Christel Heydemann (CEO, Orange) and Pietro Labriola (CEO, TIM) stating that panellists were making many of the same arguments than at the previous event, but had seen no change in practice since that time. Heydemann added that while she was not happy with the speed of the forthcoming Digital Networks Act (DNA), she welcomed the political will behind delivering regulatory reform. Colao stated that he was pleased to see some so-called ‘digital’ policy measures suggested by Draghi now in motion, noting that there has been no movement forward whatsoever in sectors such as energy, but stressed that in “extraordinary times”, it would not be enough for the EC to act in “ordinary ways”. Marc Murta (CEO, Telefónica) was more circumspect, stating that the rhetoric coming from Virkkunen allows for positive inferences “but is also compatible with not doing much”. He questioned whether the EC has a clear direction of travel for the DNA or whether it is putting “candles in different saints” and waiting to see what happens, arguing that in light of industry consensus around the Draghi Report, the EC should go “full throttle” to implement it. Margherita Della Valle (CEO, Vodafone) sought to inject her own dose of urgency into the conversation, stating that with standalone 5G access in the EU lagging well behind China and the US, “the time is now” for the EC to move from “solution identification to solution implementation”.
Industry made its familiar case for in-market mergers, pointing to Brazil, India and the UK as examples for the EC to consider
Consolidation was (once again) another major theme of the FT/Connect Europe event as the region’s largest operators called on the EC to facilitate in-market mergers, which they argue would provide them with the scale, efficiencies and value needed to invest in vital digital infrastructure. Ana Figueiredo (CEO, MEO) went further, claiming that consolidation is necessary for the industry’s long-term survival and lamented the way regulators, including ANACOM in Portugal, were creating new entrants on conditions unfair to the established operators. Amid the increasingly familiar references to the approval of the Vodafone/Three merger in the UK as a “model to follow”, Della Valle stated that, in theory, all European countries could benefit from consolidation. She added that updating the EC’s merger guidelines should not be controversial and while that would not “bring us to Nirvana”, helping to eliminate the presumption that four is the ‘magic number’ of operators in any given market would be a step in the right direction. Murtra – who indicated that M&A may be a priority once Telefónica completes its strategic review this November – looked to offer the EC an incentive: let the telecoms sector consolidate and operators would sign a “social contract” committing to invest over the long-run. Labriola made a similar pledge while also pointing to Brazil as an example of where the number of operators has reduced but the market has remained price competitive and quality of service has improved. Notable too was the suggestion from Justin Hotard (President and CEO, Nokia) that the EC reflects on market dynamics in India where consolidation has allowed network investment and innovation to flourish, all the while mobile ARPUs have stayed among the lowest in the world. Virkkunen, however, was again guarded when pressed on the prospects for future in-market deals, recognising that greater flexibility regarding consolidation may be beneficial, but underlining that the EC must be careful not to recreate past monopolies and look at deals on a case-by-case basis.
It was suggested that operators have not pushed back strongly enough as the regulatory burden has grown
Perhaps inevitably given a forthcoming draft of the DNA and the EC’s ongoing review of the Recommendation on relevant markets, the scope for deregulation in telecoms was also discussed at length by the Connect Europe membership. Murtra stated that in a market with slim margins and challenging balance sheets, excessive regulation can add to the burden facing operators, negatively impacting investment. Colao argued that the sector’s CEOs should be far less tolerant of the duplication of legislation imposed on them, highlighting the “28th regime” as an opportunity to evolve the existing framework, creating something more singular and homogeneous. Thomas Arnoldner (Deputy CEO, A1 Group) even suggested that European operators were behaving like “boiling frogs” unaware that the water around them is getting hotter. He stated that he “fully subscribed” to the removal of ex-ante regulation, including in countries where A1 is the challenger rather than the incumbent. Naturally, Dominique Leroy (Board Member for Europe, Deutsche Telekom) agreed, seeing the DNA as an opportunity to change 25-year old regulation, potentially shifting to an ex-post regime. She stated that markets were now competitive and needed liberating rather than regulating, telling the EC to “trust the sector” and to “let competition play”. While Murtra saw a chance for regulatory simplification to help operators rationalise legacy networks and systems, Leroy cautioned the EC against mandating a common EU timeline for copper switch-off, which may reflect Germany trailing countries such as Spain in its fibre rollout journey.
Member States have rejected EC calls to avoid spectrum auction terms that might otherwise hinder investment
With CEOs’ remarks focused on other matters, Roberto Viola (Director General, DG CONNECT, EC) – introduced as the “power behind Virkkunen’s throne” – largely dedicated his comments to spectrum policy. An issue dear to his heart, Viola viewed spectrum as a European resource rather than national one, arguing that long or indefinite licence terms alongside fair auction prices were needed to enable network investment, and expressed disappointment that some Member States had adopted contradictory approaches in the past. He stated that the use of “funny rules” in spectrum awards needed to stop and claimed to have attempted to discuss this with Member States three times, only to be rebuffed on each occasion. Labriola brought Viola’s concerns to life by saying that he had investors wanting to fund his network rollouts, but with the regulator set to re-auction access to frequencies in 2029, he still didn’t know the auction rules or format. Viola nevertheless saw the DNA as a way of making improvements to spectrum assignments across the bloc, in addition to reducing red tape and establishing a more uniform framework overall. He also described consolidation as a “dramatically complex issue”, stating that while many agree it should happen, that vision may not ultimately be realised in practice.
