Who gets to run Europe’s mobile networks, and for how long? Parliament’s lead negotiator on telecom reform wants spectrum licences to last 50 years or more and copper lines to make way for fibre. Big operators welcome the longer licences, but smaller rivals warn they would cement the incumbents’ grip on the market.
MEP Michał Kobosko (Renew/POL) published his draft report on the Digital Networks Act (DNA) on 21 October. He leads the file in the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE). The text proposes extending minimum spectrum licence durations from 40 to 50 years and backs indefinite rights, as the Commission had already proposed. It also requires major internet traffic providers to negotiate interconnection agreements with telecom operators and changes the rules on roaming.
“Connectivity is not just access to the network, but also control over Europe’s digital future,” Mr Kobosko wrote on X. He described the DNA as an opportunity to strengthen European digital sovereignty. The MEP argues that telecommunications networks are increasingly important for artificial intelligence, security, and defence.
Mr Kobosko previously voiced doubts about indefinite licences in an interview with EU Perspectives in August. “Personally, as much as I support longer licences, I already have some doubts about indefinite licences,” he told us.
Investment falls as networks expand
The European Commission proposed the Digital Networks Act in January. It aims to simplify telecom regulation, reduce fragmentation across 27 national markets, and encourage investment in fibre, 5G, and future 6G. According to the Commission’s 2026 connectivity report, 96.8 per cent of EU households had access to 5G by mid-2025, but fibre connections were available to only 74.1 per cent. The EU wants gigabit connectivity for all households and 5G coverage in all populated areas by 2030.
Meanwhile, telecom investment is declining. Connect Europe, which represents Europe’s largest telecom operators, says capital expenditure fell for the second year running. Its State of Digital Communications 2026 report shows a two per cent drop, from €65.8bn in 2023 to €64.6bn in 2024.
Reacting to the new document, the association’s Director General, Alessandro Gropelli, said the report sends encouraging signals on spectrum and innovation, but warned that “contradictory roaming measures risk destabilising Europe’s successful free-roaming system”. His concerns centre on proposals to lower the fees mobile operators charge each other when customers use their phones abroad, and to remove safeguards against permanent roaming. That is when customers use a foreign SIM card at home for good.
The association also wants simpler rules governing how telecom companies share access to their infrastructure with competitors. It argues that the current system, which the draft largely keeps, places too many restrictions on network owners. This makes investing in new fibre connections less attractive.
Copper switch-off divides providers
Another disagreement concerns the future of Europe’s copper networks. The Commission wants to accelerate the transition to faster fibre, with 2035 as a single EU-wide deadline. The draft removes that date. But it still requires countries to phase out copper networks in areas where certain conditions are met, including sufficient fibre coverage.
Connect Europe welcomes the scrapped deadline but still considers this approach too restrictive. The association argues that the switch to fibre should be “driven by demand, commercial decisions and local market conditions, not regulatory mandates”.
The German Broadband Association (BREKO), which represents 550 companies, takes the opposite view. It welcomed the requirement to phase out copper networks once the necessary conditions are met. “A successful transition should be driven by a clear and enforceable framework, rather than a single calendar date,” said Lisia Mix-Bieber, BREKO’s Head of Public Affairs.
However, BREKO raised concerns about longer spectrum licences. These give operators the right to use the radio frequencies needed for mobile networks. The association warned that allowing licences to last indefinitely, or for at least 50 years, without competition safeguards could favour established mobile operators. It would also make it harder for providers without their own mobile networks, such as virtual operators and fibre companies, to compete.
Parliament’s negotiations lie ahead
The draft is not Parliament’s final position. ITRE members have until 12 November 2026 to submit amendments, with a committee vote planned for the first quarter of 2027.
Connectivity is not just access to the network, but also control over Europe’s digital future. — Michał Kobosko (Renew/POL), DNA rapporteur
Two other committees, Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) and Civil Liberties (LIBE), will also give their opinions. Member states are meanwhile working on their own position in the Council. Once both sides are ready, they will negotiate the final text with the Commission in trilogue talks.
