Telecoms bosses urge less regulation

Leading European telecoms companies on Tuesday urged governments to ease the regulations on them, so the industry can play a major role in lifting economies out of recession. Spain's Telefónica and Vodafone of the UK said telecoms companies could fuel economic recovery, but warned that their efforts were hampered by regulations, notably from Brussels. Vittorio Colao, Vodafone's chief executive, complained the industry was suffering from "regulatory activism". Telecoms companies are using the world's largest mobile phone conference in Barcelona to highlight how the industry makes a significant contribution to gross domestic product. At the Mobile World Congress on Tuesday, César Alierta, Telefónica's chairman, complained that stimulus packages devised by governments were not paying sufficient attention to the role the telecoms industry could have in fostering economic recovery. He highlighted how fixed line operators were contemplating multibillion-euro investments in superfast broadband networks that could improve productivity.