Position regarding EU White Paper on the Future of Digital Infrastructure (June 24)

The publication of the European Commission’s White Paper on the Future of Digital Infrastructure in February 2024 is an important step towards an upcoming reform of Europe‘s regulatory framework for telecoms. The White Paper describes the critical state of the telecoms sector and sets out potential measures to make Europe’s digital infrastructure fit for the future. 

As Deutsche Telekom, we applaud the initiative and the general direction of the White Paper and agree with its analysis of the difficult situation in which the telecoms sector in Europe finds itself, marked among others by a low return on capital and a significant investment gap. We therefore welcome that the European Commission is envisaging an ambitious reform of the telecoms framework, with the aim to fully reflect the changed market realities and to facilitate investment in digital infrastructure.

This also means that the European Commission should not lose time in putting forward a concrete legislative proposal for a Digital Networks Act, reforming and replacing today‘s regulatory framework, as urgent action is needed given the difficult state of the sector and the limited time left to achieve the EU’s 2030 connectivity targets.

But what exactly is needed to ensure that Europe benefits from the best digital infrastructure in the future? Check out Deutsche Telekom’s feedback to the White Paper here (pdf, 149,5 KB).