The CEO of one of France's largest engineering groups told CNBC that Europe must not rely on American technology infrastructure, warning of a “dangerous” reliance on systems like Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet network.
“There are two essential areas for the future of which [Europa] they need to realize how important they are. It's about artificial intelligence and satellites,” Bouygues Telecom CEO Olivier Roussat told CNBC on Thursday.
“Europe doesn't realize exactly how dangerous it is to simply rely on American infrastructure,” he warned.
Bouygues, a Paris-based conglomerate, operates in the fields of construction, transport and telecommunications.
The company is at the forefront of attempts to consolidate France's telecoms sector, where operators have entered into intense price competition that has put pressure on their profit margins.
The French director advocates Europe's “sovereign” technology
“It's not certain that we necessarily need a Starlink or something like that,” Roussat said, adding that Europe needs something “that gives it sovereignty.”
Starlink, a division of Elon Musk's SpaceX, currently dominates global satellite internet services and operates a constellation of about 10,000 satellites in low Earth orbit. SpaceX plans to list on the Nasdaq stock market in what could become the largest initial public offering in history.
Roussat drew attention to Europe's vulnerability to a non-state actor like Starlink, which has the power to single-handedly disrupt the continent's connectivity.
In April, Bouygues made an all-cash bid to take the largest stake in rival operator SFR in a deal valued at 20.35 billion euros ($23.6 billion), which would become the biggest European telecoms deal in years.
But there is a period of review by regulators, and the bidders will need the approval of antitrust authorities to move forward, which will test the European Commission's willingness to accept the consolidation of the communications market in one of the largest member states.
“The stakes for them [Comisia Europeană] is to create the conditions for a fair competition between us, and I believe this is possible,” Roussat said on Thursday.
