The CEO of Europe’s biggest telco group criticises European ‘microregulation’ at shareholders’ meeting as he emphasises stellar performance – €1 per share dividend – and sovereignty
CEO Tim Höttges claims Deutsche Telekom (DT) is “an anchor of dependability in an uncertain world,” at its shareholders meeting in Bonn, Germany yesterday. He pointed out that, as promised a year earlier, the group proposes a dividend increase at its highest-ever level in the company’s history: €1 per share. “This success is down to our strategy which has been stable for years; even that is dependable,” he added.
In the last fiscal year revenue grew by 4.2% in organic terms to more than €119 billion and adjusted EBITDA AL increased by 4.7% in organic terms to more than €44.2 billion. He said further growth was planned for 2026, and confirmed the guidance presented at the Group’s press conference.
On the subject of DT’s “unique growth profile” among European telcos, Höttges said, “We draw strength from two continents: Europe and the United States [its American subsidiary is T-Mobile]. This is no accident of geography, but a strategic advantage. We unite stability and dynamism like no other telco globally. We are growing on both sides of the Atlantic.”
Regulatory restrictions
Höttges took the opportunity to criticise Europe’s interfering regulatory regime, saying, “We already have hundreds of authorities watching over Europe’s digital industry. And yet Brussels is planning further regulation. I believe that Europe wants the right thing. But there can be no European sovereignty without economies of scale. That is why we must not continue down the path of microregulation.”
DT is betting big on AI factories and leading the charge for European sovereignty. “AI is the biggest gift our economy has ever been given. AI accelerates many tasks in Germany that were previously slow. AI safeguards quality and reduces mistakes,” Höttges stated. “And AI helps where specialists are in short supply. We already use it across our entire company: AI not only finds faults in the network – it repairs them. It codes. It analyzes markets. It provides legal advice.”
Höttges presented a model of the company’s AI factory in Munich and claimed, “Every company in Europe can use the factory, in particular SMEs, [retaining] full control over the data, the different applications, and the technology. ‘Made in Germany’ and ‘Made for Germany.’ It is a contribution to sovereignty for Germany. Powered by Telekom.”
DT is officially launched its Industrial AI Cloud in February, offering “sovereign computing power for AI” in Munich’s Tucherpark. It has been built over the past six months with NVIDIA and data centre partner Polarise. The AI factory is already operating at over a third of its capacity with customers such as the Munich-based Agile Robots and PhysicsX. The latter specialises in technical simulation to shorten the development time of products and product parts.
Höttges also highlighted DT’s AI assistant previewed at the MWC in Barcelona, saying, “We are turning cables into capabilities. By building an AI assistant directly into the network. You only have to say ‘Hey, Magenta’ – and the assistant is there. The network translates conversations in real time. Meaning no more language barriers! It finds restaurants, arranges appointments and, best of all, it works in fixed and mobile networks. On any device. Even on an old Nokia 3310.”
He stressed that, “Security and data privacy have top priority” hence the assistant only responds when called and does not store any data.
