Mobile World Congress 2023
Orange CEO Christel Heydemann opened a series of keynotes at the Mobile World Congress 2023 in Barcelona, Spain yesterday by presenting a gloomy picture of how Europe’s mobile operators are faring. Heydemann cited continuous pressure to meet ever-rising demand which was being driven primarily by Big Tech digital players, while trying to lower costs yet maintain reasonable prices for consumers. Almost half of the existing telecoms won’t make it through the decade, according to Heydemann.
“Over the last ten years the situation for European telcos has become completely paradoxical,” she said. “From fierce competition to sometimes outdated regulations, our sector is dealing with contradictory requirements.”
Heydemann said consumers always expect to pay less and get more, while, in the meantime, telcos are facing pressure to squeeze capex while coping with exponential traffic growth from the big digital forces.
With many operators liquidating their tower assets, Heydemann said their infrastructure investment was one “some telcos are no longer able to absorb and are consequently compelled to partly sell their assets off.”
“Europe needs a bigger push to hit these targets,” she said, “and the push needs to be applied to the whole digital ecosystem, not just telecommunications operators. It is time to recognize the telecommunications industry has been one of the biggest contributors to our economies through massive investments.”
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