Telecom

‘Europe Needs a DOGE’: Telecom CEOs Fume at EU Bureaucracy

Shaun Collins, from left, Margherita Della Valle, Christel Heydemann, Tim Hoettges, and Marc Mutra during a panel session at the MWC25 tech show in Barcelona, Spain, on March 3. — Shaun Collins, from left, Margherita Della Valle, Christel Heydemann, Tim Hoettges, and Marc Mutra during a panel session at the MWC25 tech show in Barcelona, Spain, on March 3.
Photographer: Angel Garcia/Bloomberg

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By Jillian Deutsch

March 3, 2025 at 5:32 PM UTC

Updated on

March 3, 2025 at 6:27 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

European telecommunications executives gathered at the continent’s biggest trade show railed against over-regulation, blaming Brussels for preventing consolidation in the industry that’s fallen behind peers in the US and Asia.

“You know, what Europe needs is a DOGE,” Deutsche Telekom AG Chief Executive Officer Tim Höttges said Monday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, referring to the Trump administration’s cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency spearheaded by Elon Musk.