MWC2026

In Barcelona, Telecom CEOs Talk Sluggish Growth, EU Regulation and Geopolitics

European 'rip-and-replace' criticized, Eutelstat CEO promotes itself as only LEO system that is neither American nor Chinese

Akul Saxena, Drew Clark

Mar 3, 2026 — 4 min read

BARCELONA, March 3, 2026 — European telecom executives said Europe’s push for “technological sovereignty” will fall short without consolidation and faster growth on the continent.

Speaking in a keynote on the main stage here at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the CEOs of Germany’s Deutsche Telekom, Spain’s Telefónica, and France's Eutelstat called for quicker European regulation, and for government anchor investments in cloud, chips, and satellite systems.

The panel on Monday was moderated by Vivek Badrinath, director general of the global mobile technology standards organization GSMA (originally Groupe Spéciale Mobile Association), which runs the global trade show MWC.

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MWC2026 Brussels European Commission Vivek Badrinath GSMA Tim Hoettges Duetsche Telekom European Chips Act Marc Murtra Telefonica Eutelsat Eutelsat OneWeb Jean-François Fallacher Munich Security Conference GPU EU Cybersecurity Act NVIDIA Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications BEREB EU