Brussels, Belgium – Europe’s connectivity ecosystem is evolving quickly to embrace the transition to gigabit infrastructures, 5G, virtualization, and cloud-defined networks. As our sector ramps up infrastructure investment to meet user expectations and to empower competitiveness, we are proud to welcome new members to ETNO, Europe’s leading telecom association.

ETNO is welcoming Liberty Global as a Full Member, starting in February. The ETNO Board and General Assembly have fully endorsed the application. Liberty Global serves 85 million fixed and mobile connections in Europe with networks for 10 Gbps and beyond, under brands such as Virgin Media-02 in the UK, VodafoneZiggo in The Netherlands, Telenet in Belgium, Sunrise in Switzerland, Virgin Media in Ireland and UPC in Slovakia. Liberty Global is also an active investor in cutting edge infrastructure, content and technology ventures. At a time in which Europe works to achieve full gigabit connectivity for all of its citizens, Liberty Global brings major expertise to ETNO from the world of converged communication services, advanced broadband and entertainment delivery.

ETNO is welcoming OVHcloud as an Observer Member as from this month. The ETNO Board and General Assembly have fully endorsed the application. OVHcloud is Europe’s leading cloud provider, delivering public and private cloud products, hosting and dedicated server solutions in 140 countries worldwide. As competitive cloud markets and edge cloud technology become ever more essential to Europe’s connectivity ecosystem, OVHcloud brings fresh expertise and insights to our community.

With the latest additions, ETNO further expands its representativeness and can now count 32 operators from 32 European countries as well as 9 observer members from the broader connectivity and digital services value chain.

Lise Fuhr, Director General of ETNO, said: “Europe’s connectivity ecosystem is a the core of socio-economic growth. As innovation and markets move fast, ETNO is proud to welcome new members who invest in the European economy and to further expand the representation of the sector”.

Mike Fries, CEO of Liberty Global, said: “This is the time to unite the industry. European telecoms has been structurally disadvantaged for decades by fragmentation and lack of scale. We have always believed in market consolidation as a crucial prerequisite for growth and innovation in a global market. Now more than ever, we also want to contribute to the strengthening and unification of fragmented views on public policy in our industry”.

Michel Paulin, CEO of OVH Cloud, said: “As a global player and the leading European cloud provider, we are committed to guarantee cloud users’ freedom of choice, allow alternative players’ to access the market, offer a level playing field, and promote a secured, trusted, and responsible cloud environment. Europe is plenty of innovation that need to be encouraged and fueled, especially as competition is tough and must rely on robust infrastructures and innovative technologies such as cloud and edge to help Europe to achieve its ambitious digital agenda. We are proud to be part of this community and to join our forces to shape a flourishing future for tech and telecom industries where data protection, sustainability, and innovation issues are critical”.