Policy Paper on the Digital Networks Act
Our 12-point proposal to turn the DNA into a competitiveness booster
The Connectivity & Competitiveness Gap
Europe is living through a structural turning point. Companies now operate in a world defined by systemic rivalry, technological acceleration and industrial policy at scale, all requiring increased investment. Our global peers – from China to the United States, from South Korea to India – are aligning regulation, capital markets and industrial policy to mobilise unprecedented capital for digital infrastructure and AI. European citizens should also benefit from innovation and future opportunities for socio-economic growth. Europe, by contrast, risks missing on the opportunity of reforming to unleash investment and innovation. The competitiveness gap is measurable in investment per capita, scale, productivity growth and infrastructure performance. Europe’s digital communications ecosystem represents €1.09 trillion – 5% of EU GDP – and telecom operators invested €64.6 billion in 2024. However, investment has declined for two consecutive years. At the current pace, 41.8 million Europeans will still lack FTTH access by 2030. Revenues per user remain below levels seen a decade ago, and Europe’s fragmented market - 44 mobile operators and more than 70 large fixed operators - continues to weaken scale and investment 1 . This is not a lack of effort by European operators, as they are characterised by the highest levels of capital intensity in the world, meaning that they currently devote a higher share of their revenues to investment compared to global peers. Rather, it is the result of structural fragmentation and a regulatory framework designed for a different era. Connectivity is not a peripheral sector, but a foundational layer for Europe’s economy. It underpins AI deployment, advanced manufacturing, defence resilience, cybersecurity, cloud, digital public services and the green transition. Telecom operators are builders of Europe’s digital stack, operating data centres, deploying 750 edge nodes, driving Open RAN innovation and generating €5.3 billion in cybersecurity revenues. Without scalable and sustainable networks, Europe’s economic growth will suffer and technological sovereignty remain aspirational. The Digital Networks Act (DNA) is therefore not a technical codification exercise. It is a strategic legal and economic decision with deep societal effects. It is an opportunity for Europe to align its regulatory environment with its competitiveness agenda and to build a new model that helps strengthen the infrastructure on which its economy depends. At stake is Europe’s capacity to mobilise long-term capital, achieve scale and close the innovation gap.
Our vision for a Connected Europe
If properly designed, the Digital Networks Act can become a real enabler of European competitiveness, innovation and resilience. In this paper, we set out the changes needed to ensure that the DNA helps deliver the following outcomes for Europe’s economy and society:
Unleash European innovation based on 5G Standalone, FTTH and future 6G. All citizens and businesses must have access to the best networks.
Free up EU telecom innovation in edge cloud and network virtualisation. Europe should be in lead of its own networks and become a telecom innovation exporter.
Secure global competitiveness and fairness. The EU should act as a single market, leverage its scale and make sure that its telcos compete on fair grounds with big tech.
A strategic choice for Europe
The Digital Networks Act stands at a strategic crossroads. Europe can choose a framework that restores investment confidence, enables scale, corrects regulatory imbalances and strengthens technological sovereignty. Or it can perpetuate a regulatory model designed for the past, one that constrains capital formation, fragments markets and weakens global relevance. Connectivity is the backbone of Europe’s digital, industrial and security ambitions. Without sustainable investment in networks, there is no AI leadership, no sovereign cloud, no digital resilience and no competitive green transition. The time for incremental adjustment has passed. The Digital Networks Act must become Europe’s connectivity reset, a framework aligned with competitiveness, scale and strategic autonomy. Europe’s digital future will be built on the strength of its networks. Policy must now match that ambition.
