Europe is not winning in the global technology race. This is a thought that has shared the top responsible for mobile phone operators Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Vodafone and Telefónica at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), who They have claimed, one more year, a new regulatory scenario for the sector, which is currently playing with the “hands tied.” Therefore, they have called for the European Commission to facilitate the integration operations of the sector.
The president of Telefónica, Marc Murtra, considers that this sector is operating in a fragmented market and although the regulation is necessary, the problem is in the “dose”. Therefore, It is necessary that European regulators and member states change, decisions are made and risks are assumed, since if the same is continued, “we will end up having the same results”he has lamented.
However, Murtra is optimistic about the future and He doesn’t think it’s “too late for Europe”since this continent still has a huge market, with deep technical knowledge, great professionals and companies “that know how to function as nobody.” Therefore, he reiterates that “we have to change our way of doing things.”
For its part, the CEO of Vodafone Group, Margherita della Valle, is clear that Europe is falling back in this global race, not only behind the United States and China, but also from low and medium -sized countrieswhich raises the risk of our continent becoming dependent. “Europe is more a technology collector than a creator of this”has alerted Della Valle.
“We need more scale”he has indicated. And he has assured that “for consumers it is better more investments with three operators, than less investments with four operators,”
However, this scenario has not always been so, since in the era of 2g “Europe was leading the world.” Therefore, to change this context, The Vodafone CEO points out that it is necessary to work on two fronts that could open a “new world” for this sector: flex our innovative muscle and have an adequate environment for investment. “It’s time to move from marmot day to the digital European rebirth”he said.
Also, Christel Heydemann, CEO of Orange has stated that With this regulatory framework in Europe it will be difficult to attract talent or innovation to the continent, and that if there is a larger scale there will be the possibility of more investments “and lower costs for consumers.”
For Deutsche Telekom CEO, Timotheus Höttges, the regulation that exists in Europe is not “releasing the power of our industry” that is not going through a good time. However, he points out that Regulators should not always be blamed, but telecos also “have to make decisions” And know that they not only have a single market in which to consolidate their activity.
In this sense, He pointed out that the technological ecosystem that the United States has is the “winner”, since this is much more dynamic “than the Europeanwhich attracts investors: “We should copy what they do in the US,” he said.