Sector & service specialists

The connectivity ecosystem – telecoms services, network equipment, and content and applications – is worth about €1 trillion in Europe, contributing almost 5% of GDP and surpassing agriculture, fisheries, and forestry combined. Connect Europe (formerly ETNO) has been the principal policy group for European network operators since 1992. The European Competitive Telecommunications Association (ECTA) promotes market liberalisation and competition. The EU telecoms sector is characterised by national champions and relatively few pan-European leaders – a structural fragmentation that regulators and industry alike acknowledge as a competitive weakness. 

Consolidation is the defining strategic debate of 2026. The question of whether EU competition rules should permit larger telecom mergers to enable European operators to achieve the scale needed to invest in 5G, 6G, and fibre infrastructure is being actively debated. The Commission’s competitiveness agenda – driven by the Draghi report – is creating political space for a more permissive approach to European telecoms mergers. Orange and Deutsche Telekom have both been active in consolidation discussions. The SIU’s ambition of deeper capital market integration would, if delivered, also affect telecoms sector financing. 

Spectrum policy, net neutrality, and wholesale access regulation continue to be contested. The 6G research programme is gaining momentum. AI in network management is transforming operational models. Cybersecurity obligations are intensifying under NIS2 and DORA for operators classified as essential services. The AI Act creates compliance requirements for telecoms operators deploying high-risk AI systems in network management or customer service. 

The growing strategic importance of satellite connectivity – including the EU’s IRIS² initiative and concerns over dependence on non-European providers such as Starlink – is adding a sovereignty dimension to telecoms policy debates that has not previously featured so prominently. The structural disparity identified in previous editions of BestinBrussels – where Connect Europe’s member companies employ 1 million people across Europe yet the secretariat employs only 11 people – continues to reflect the fragmented nature of telecoms representation in Brussels relative to the sector’s economic significance.