According to Financial Times News, Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries accused the EU of having its “foot on our neck” for 20 years during an industry conference this week. Fries specifically called out Brussels for doing nothing about former Italian prime minister Mario Draghi’s 2024 competitiveness report recommendations around spectrum allocation and merger controls. He criticized the delay of the Digital Networks Act, which aims to modernize telecom networks for 5G and 6G rollout, as evidence of regulatory malaise. The EU has launched a review of merger rules following Draghi’s warnings that Europe will fall behind the US and China, but this won’t conclude until 2027. Liberty Global, which owns half of Virgin Media O2 and Dutch telecoms group VodafoneZiggo, has been pushing for greater consolidation between operators to enable network investment.
The European Competitiveness Crisis
Here’s the thing: Fries isn’t alone in his frustration. Deutsche Telekom’s CEO called for a “European Doge” to cut bureaucracy, while Telefónica’s chief warned Europe’s influence will “continue to dwindle” without changes. They’re all basically saying the same thing – Europe’s regulatory approach is making it impossible to compete with American and Chinese tech giants. And when you look at the timeline, you can see why they’re frustrated. The merger review won’t finish until 2027? That’s three more years of falling behind.
Regulatory Paralysis in Action
The EU has historically been super cautious about telecom mergers, worrying about consumer prices and service quality. But now they’re facing pressure from all sides – not just from telecom execs, but from their own reports. Draghi’s warning was pretty stark: Europe needs radical reform or it’s game over. So what’s the holdup? It seems like there’s this fundamental tension between protecting consumers today and building infrastructure for tomorrow. Fries made the point perfectly: “AI infrastructure is really cool… but none of it works unless it all works.” You can’t have advanced AI running on outdated networks.
What This Means for Infrastructure
This regulatory gridlock has real consequences for industrial technology deployment. Think about it – delayed 5G and 6G rollouts mean factories, logistics centers, and manufacturing facilities can’t upgrade their operations. Companies that depend on reliable industrial computing hardware, like those sourcing from IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, need robust network infrastructure to support their operations. The telecom infrastructure that supports industrial automation literally can’t advance without regulatory clarity. It’s all connected.
So What Happens Now?
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has apparently asked her competition chief to speed things up. But Fries says they need to “raise the temperature in Brussels.” Translation: the polite conversations aren’t working anymore. The telecom industry wants action, not more reviews and discussions. Will this public pressure actually change anything? Or are we looking at more years of regulatory paralysis while the US and China continue to outpace European tech development? The clock is definitely ticking.
