The DNA and MNO business models

stein@opensky

This is the time of year when every self-respecting consultancy company makes predictions for the year to come (i.e. 2026 just now at the start gate) – and, in addition, CES is ongoing as we speak – so more tech news announcements can be expected soon as well. I will not try to predict much myself now – but rather than writing long articles about specific themes (which I have done too often recently), I will issue a set of short commentaries about various topics that have triggered or still trigger me. This one is about the EU’s Digital Networks Act and related issues.

In my previous commentary on AI and network traffic I ended with a short hint about two-sided business models and net neutrality. Without going extensively into this, I understand that the European Commission is planning to issue the Digital Networks Act (DNA) on 20 Jan 2026 to complement the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA) – and the EU AI Act. “The DNA plans to modernize telecoms rules for fiber, 5G/6G, and cybersecurity, aiming for investment, harmonized rules, fair cost-sharing with big tech, and a stronger digital backbone.” This is obviously a contentious issue with the OTTs / hyperscalers and with the anti-operator lobby (refer e.g. Dean Bubley here) - and includes this exact topic. The GSMA, on the other hand, obviously is positive. Having been engaged with the GSMA for around 20 years or so, the topics of “fair share” and “net neutrality” have been there for this whole period – and there are also regulatory differences between the EU, the US, China etc (see e.g. my earlier commentary here from one year ago). The EU has a tendency of regulation while others let market forces free.

It will be interesting in 2026 to see the geopolitics and global trade issues resulting from the Digital Networks Act. Having been an operator for most of my life, I tend to sympathize with the ambitions of the “DNA”, however. Operators need a way to handle “free-riders” on their networks – but they also need to modernize, to manage their network traffic with innovative business models irrespective of the “DNA”.