Europe's four largest telecom operators have begun working toward an alliance to bid for satellite internet spectrum. As the European Union moves to give priority in spectrum allocation to companies based within the bloc, the United States has warned of disruptive retaliation.
Reuters reported on the 18th, local time, that Germany's Deutsche Telekom, France's Orange, Britain's Vodafone and Spain's Telefonica have started discussing how to form a consortium to bid for spectrum set aside for operators based in the EU. The same day, the Financial Times reported that Andrew Puzder, the U.S. ambassador to the EU, said such steps could follow if the European Commission pushes ahead with draft rules restricting spectrum allocation to non-EU companies.
Ahead of a spectrum allocation process scheduled for May next year, the European Commission has flagged new draft rules that would assign one-third of the usage rights in the 2-gigahertz band for satellite internet services to operators based in the bloc. Another third has been earmarked for IRIS², the EU's own satellite network led by SES, Eutelsat and Hispasat and due to begin operating in 2029. If the rules are finalized, at least two-thirds of the spectrum band will go to companies based in the EU.
Asked by the Financial Times about the possibility of U.S. retaliation against European companies, Puzder said that this was something to be wary of and that, given the size of the U.S. market, it would be very damaging for the companies involved.
"If the purpose of the legislation is to reduce American competitiveness, that would not be a legitimate goal," Puzder said, adding that cutting the competitiveness of U.S. companies does not make European companies more competitive. He stressed that the United States has the best products in the field. The draft rules would restrict access to spectrum usage rights for U.S. companies such as SpaceX.
The Financial Times said EU policymakers are seeking to reduce their reliance on U.S. technology companies, citing the risks of depending on foreign firms for critical communications infrastructure at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump's actions are unpredictable.
Puzder also criticized the EU's Digital Markets Act, which is designed to rein in the market power of Big Tech, saying he was beginning to question whether it was meant to address competition problems in digital markets or to extract profits from U.S. companies for Europe's benefit. In July, Google was fined 460 million euros (about 690 billion won) by the EU for violating the DMA by favoring its own services in search results for shopping, hotels and other categories.