Who Let the DOGE Out at the Mobile World Congress?
At this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Höttges declared, “Europe needs its own DOGE.”
No, this wasn’t a belated cryptocurrency joke. He was referring to Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—a U.S. initiative to slash bureaucracy by slashing government jobs. In a city like Barcelona, famous for its history of anti-authoritarian resistance, this statement was the rhetorical equivalent of bringing a cat to a dog show.
But beyond the irony, the real problem is that Deutsche Telekom’s own track record looks a lot like DOGE in disguise: centralising power, undermining oversight, and barking at net neutrality whenever it suits them.
When the Big Dogs Want to Guard the Internet
Höttges claims Europe needs more “efficiency” in governance, but let’s examine what his own company has been doing to the Internet:
- Deutsche Telekom has long had issues with net neutrality. This is the company, after all, that has repeatedly challenged the principles of an Open Internet while professing noble intentions. Remember StreamOn, DT’s zero-rated streaming scheme that let certain music and video apps bypass data caps? Regulators certainly do. When faced with charges that StreamOn throttled user speeds and violated EU rules, DT fought all the way to the European Court of Justice (CJEU) – and lost.
- It’s currently in a standoff with Meta over network access fees. DT demanded “fair share” payments from Meta, and when the company refused, DT allegedly throttled Facebook and Instagram traffic for its own subscribers. Meta retaliated by rerouting traffic through third-party services, warning that DT’s behavior sets ‘a dangerous global precedent’ for the Open Internet.
- It’s pushing for a more “efficient” European Internet—by giving telecoms more control. Deutsche Telekom and its peers are lobbying the EU to let them charge tech companies additional fees for delivering content to users on top of what customers already pay for Internet access. The Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) has already questioned this model, yet the telcos persist, wrapping their arguments in buzzwords like “digital sovereignty” to make them more palatable.
The irony is strong: Deutsche Telekom claims to champion fairness while effectively holding users’ access hostage.
DOGE in Barcelona? That’s Ruff
The irony of praising DOGE in Barcelona should not be lost on anyone familiar with the city’s history. The city resisted Franco’s authoritarian regime longer than any other, and its deep-rooted resistance to centralised power still shapes its political culture today.
Now, in that very city, a telecom CEO stood on stage and praised a government model that consolidates decision-making in fewer hands and strips away oversight. The contradiction couldn’t be more glaring. Barcelona once fought to prevent unchecked authority from controlling its infrastructure—meanwhile, Höttges was essentially calling for the same kind of power grab, but in the digital space. You could practically hear Catalonia’s anarchist ghosts howling ‘¿Qué DOGE dice?!’ or ‘Què diu el DOGE?!’ in disbelief.
Musk’s DOGE isn’t just about trimming bureaucracy; it’s about cutting oversight in favour of corporate efficiency. And when a telco CEO starts admiring such a model, it’s not hard to see why: regulators keep getting in the way of his company’s ambitions.
Telco Opportunism: A Familiar Trick
Höttges’ enthusiasm for DOGE isn’t an isolated remark. It fits neatly into the broader telco playbook, which seeks to reshape the Internet’s power balance under the pretense of “strengthening Europe’s digital economy.”
European telecom giants, including Deutsche Telekom, want a more centralised market with fewer competitors and weaker regulations. Their lobbying efforts focus on:
- Pushing consolidation: Merging telecom operators into super-networks, reducing competition in the name of efficiency. Höttges has been vocal about wanting a “European single market” for telecom—not because it benefits users but because it benefits big players like Deutsche Telekom.
- Forcing network fees: Convincing regulators to let them charge tech companies so-called ‘fair share’ fees. This would force content and service providers (OTTs) like Netflix, YouTube, and Meta to pay telcos just to ensure their services reach users at reasonable speeds. This double-dipping business model would mean users pay for Internet access, and OTTs pay to reach those same users—while telcos cash in twice.
- Chipping away at net neutrality: In 2015, Höttges stood on the same MWC stage and argued that telecoms should be allowed to create “quality classes” for Internet services—a loophole to prioritise some traffic over others. The EU rejected that idea back then, but DT hasn’t given up. Today, they frame it as “investment in infrastructure,” but the goal remains the same: some services get the fast lane, while everyone else gets the scraps.
Höttges’ DOGE mention should not be dismissed as an offhand remark. It reflects the broader telco push to weaken regulation under the guise of efficiency.
Asking for Treats on a Full Stomach
Amid all the claims that telcos are on the brink of hardship, Deutsche Telekom’s 30th anniversary reveals a stash of treats they conveniently omitted to share:
- €115 billion in revenue (+3.5%)
- €9.4 billion in adjusted net profit — an all-time best
- A generous dividend of €0.90 per share — the highest payout in company history
If they’re lamenting a rough financial climate and clamoring for new fees—or even an entirely new “DOGE”—it certainly doesn’t show in these record-breaking figures. But then again, we all know every dog can flash its puppy eyes to get an extra treat, even when it doesn’t really deserve one.
Conclusion: Who Really Let the DOGE Out?
So, back to the question: Who let the DOGE out?
Höttges may think Europe needs its own DOGE, but what it really needs is a strong watchdog. One that ensures telcos don’t gatekeep the Internet, throttle competition, or charge a toll for access to digital services. A responsibility that national regulatory authorities and BEREC have consistently upheld.
Deutsche Telekom isn’t fighting for an open, fairer European Internet. They just want to be the top dog. But if Barcelona’s history teaches us anything, it’s that concentration of power—whether in government or telecom infrastructure—always comes at a cost.
Europe should be building a digital future based on access, competition, and neutrality—not a DOGE-eat-dog world where telecom giants hold all the leashes.
So the real question to Henna Virkkunen and her colleagues in the European Commission is: Will Europe roll over for DOGE, or will it finally learn to sit and stay true to net neutrality?
Written by Caroline De Cock, LL.M. , Head of Research.
March 4, 2025
