Digital, Europe reclaims its data: telecom operators bet on the Digital Networks Act

Brussels – The future of European competitiveness hinges on control over digital infrastructure and the wealth generated by data. This was the key message of the meeting entitled “Towards European digital sovereignty. Digital Networks Act: investment, security and resilience,” organised at the European Parliament in Brussels by Nicola Zingaretti, head of the Democratic Party delegation. The event brought together over 200 telecommunications sector operators, representatives of the European Commission – including the Executive Vice-President for Reforms and Cohesion, Raffaele Fitto – and regulatory authorities to discuss the legislative process of the Digital Networks Act (DNA), the proposal through which the European Union aims to integrate the telecommunications market and reduce technological dependencies on third parties.

Zingaretti emphasised that “Europe produces an impressive volume of data that generates immense wealth,” yet this very wealth is being lost because “it is automatically transferred to other parts of the world without European citizens deriving any direct benefit from it.” To turn the page, according to the MEP, strategic autonomy is needed to enable Europe not only to regulate but also to govern powerful tools such as Artificial Intelligence. “We cannot continue to regulate what we do not own,” said Zingaretti.

The industrial sector has responded to the call by demanding clear rules and concrete incentives. Pietro Labriola, CEO of the TIM Group, highlighted how the DNA is “an opportunity to refocus investment on infrastructure, the only possible driver of innovation and technological sovereignty”. Italy, specifically, needs this more than other Member States because the situation is “the most dramatic,” Labriola explained. The country, in fact, has “the lowest prices for telecommunications services in Europe.” This means that Italian telecommunications companies “generate less profitability and are unable to invest as much as they should.”

According to Mari-Noëlle Jégo-Laveissière, CEO of Orange Europe, there is a need to “modernise existing regulations to ensure robust and resilient networks.” For companies in the sector, the credibility of the new legislation will depend on its ability to attract capital and establish a simple, fair regulatory framework for all players in the field.

The debate also highlighted the need to balance the growth of major European players with the protection of competition. Walter Renna, CEO of Fastweb, emphasised the importance of “facilitating access to passive fibre services to encourage operators to build their own infrastructure, while preventing them from exploiting their dominant position on the old copper networks.”  Benedetto Levi , CEO of Iliad Italia, pointed out that only a genuine “level playing field” and fair competition can deliver real benefits for consumers and businesses. The discussion concluded with the President of AGCOM, Giacomo Lasorella, who welcomed the ambition of the Digital Networks Act, while specifying, however, that “the new competitiveness objectives must be pursued while maintaining intact the safeguards on long-term infrastructure competition and the protection of end-users.”

From an institutional perspective, the Executive Vice-President for Cohesion, Raffaele Fitto, noted that the European Commission “will address the issue of the 28th regime, which places competitiveness and the problems associated with it at the heart of the debate.” The fundamental objective is “to understand how to address and overcome the differences” between Member States that “significantly slow investment, create complexity for investors, and reduce the competitiveness at the European level. This is a strategic plan that could represent a very significant opportunity to build positive dynamics and tackle the complexity of the European system, which is divided into 27 different models.”