Brussels, BELGIUM – The positive relationship between digital technology companies and telecom operators is re-affirmed in a new publication launched today, challenging misleading narratives about the two sectors that keep resurfacing.
The factsheet, How Tech Is Saving European Telcos, by the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA Europe), highlights how cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) are driving digital transformation in telecom – enabling European network operators to cut costs, boost efficiency, and improve the customer experience.
Despite the clear benefits of digital services to telcos, the debate around the EU’s upcoming Digital Networks Act (DNA) continues to be distorted by flawed claims.
Large telcos persist in pushing a deceptive narrative to EU policymakers. They claim that popular tech and content firms should compensate telcos for ‘overburdening’ networks. In reality, demand for digital services is what makes consumers pay for premium connectivity.
Now, the European Commission is about to embrace the same misguided logic, damaging Europe’s digital competitiveness. Some in the EU executive want to use the DNA to regulate the IP interconnection market and extend telecom rules to cloud services – based on the false premise of cloud-telco convergence. Such a move would not only be misguided but harmful, CCIA Europe warns.
The reality is that cloud and telecom services are simply not converging. They are just complementary, with core telecom network functions remaining distinct. Cloud computing provides scalable IT infrastructure across many industries. Telecom operators use it for AI-driven analytics and efficiencies, for example, just like other sectors do.
CCIA Europe urges the Commission to abandon its IP interconnection plans, including any arbitration mechanism, and refrain from extending the European Electronic Communications Code (EECC) to cloud services. Both ideas still lack evidence, fail to address a clear problem, and would undermine Europe’s open internet, digital economy, and competitiveness – as well as raising prices.
The following can be attributed to CCIA Europe’s Policy Manager, Maria Teresa Stecher:
“Far from the doom-and-gloom story pushed by big telcos, this new factsheet highlights real-world examples of how cloud and AI are helping the telecom sector. The decade-old claim that technology companies are ‘overburdening’ telecom networks ignores this reality.”
The following can be attributed to Senior Vice President and Head of CCIA Europe, Daniel Friedlaender:
“Instead of misguided regulatory intervention, the EU should focus on boosting digital competitiveness. If the Commission truly wants 75% of SMEs to adopt cloud and AI by 2030, it must enable these technologies – not weigh them down with unnecessary red tape that will hamper all connectivity.”
