Germany and Europe should focus their digitisation efforts on the Internet of Things (IoT) and networked devices going forward given the existing competition from the US and China over online consumer platforms, said Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Hoettges at the Digital Life Design (DLD) conference in Munich on 21 January, according to German newswire DPA.
Hoettges warned that Europe has no chance of catching up to the US and China when it comes to online consumer platforms, saying he believes Europeans "have lost these B2C platforms forever". Instead, Europe's strengths and opportunities lie in the IoT and B2B platforms and devices, he said.
Hoettges called on European politicians and business to take action in this arena and said their most important priority should be opening up new bands on the frequency spectrum for telecommunications companies for new services, wrote DPA.
Looser regulations for the industry are also needed to encourage investments in infrastructure, he added. Rival telecom companies in Germany will not invest in their own infrastructure as long as it is cheaper for them to fall back on the existing infrastructure built up by Deutsche Telekom, said Hoettges.
