”… we are not making use of scale is telecommunications. We have a market of around 450 million consumers in the EU, but investment per capita is half of that in the US, and we are lagging in 5G and fibre deployment. One reason for this gap is that we have 34 mobile network groups in Europe – and that is a conservative estimate, we have in fact many more – often operating at national scale, versus three in the US and four in China. To produce more investment, we need to streamline and further harmonise telecoms regulations across Member States and support, not hamper, consolidation.” Change is hard, but when the price is EU Competitiveness, thereby our future prosperity and jobs, surely it is worth it?
Jon Buckthorp
3mo
Powerful readout Joakim and reminds me of the theory that Adner talks about in deploying a wide lens to genuine and successful innovation being realised. Change has to happen across ecosystems for ideas to be truly realised. Super share.
Policy Analyst, Investment Attraction Directorate, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
3moAnd of course, it’s important to remember that while economies of scale are usually worth striving for, oligopolies are not. Oligopolistic competition - which can be described as an industry with only a few major players - leads to suboptimal socia outcomes. 34 telecommunication networks is a lot, and while I’m sure we would see efficiency improvements with some consolidation, consumers in the EU wouldn’t want to see the pendulum swing too far in the other direction.