European telecom CEOs urge EU to revise cybersecurity laws

Seventeen major European telecommunications executives have issued a joint appeal to European Union leadership, calling for a “correction of course” regarding the Digital Networks Act (DNA) and the Cybersecurity Act (CSA). The group, which includes leaders from Orange, Deutsche Telekom, and Telefónica, warns that proposed regulations aimed at banning “high-risk suppliers” could cost the industry up to €40 billion in equipment replacement costs.

The appeal follows a significant distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on the Portuguese operator Meo, which disrupted internet and mobile services for thousands of customers. While Meo confirmed the attack caused network congestion and BGP routing instability, the company stated no customer data was compromised.

The CEOs argue that the current legislative direction threatens Europe’s technological leadership and infrastructure resilience by diverting capital away from essential 5G and 6G investments. They advocate for a risk-based approach rather than broad, mandatory bans on specific suppliers, which they claim could undermine the EU’s competitiveness and digital transformation goals.