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The CEO of one of France’s biggest engineering groups told CNBC that Europe mustn’t rely on U.S. infrastructure, warning of “dangerous” over-reliance on infrastructure like Elon Musk’s Starlink.
“There [are] two things for the future where we need [Europe to] realize how big it is. This is AI, and this is satellite,” Bouygues CEO Olivier Roussat told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Thursday.
“Europe doesn’t realize exactly how dangerous it is to just rely on the American infrastructure.”
Paris-based Bouygues does business in the construction sector, transport, and telecommunications.
The company is fronting telecoms consolidation attempts in France, where operators have engaged in intense price competition, which has put pressure on their bottom lines.
“It’s not sure that we absolutely need to get a Starlink or something like this,” Roussat said, adding that Europe needs something “to get some sovereignty.”
Starlink, a division of the Musk-run company SpaceX, currently dominates the global satellite internet service and operates a constellation of around 10,000 satellites. SpaceX is planning to list on Nasdaq in what could be the biggest IPO ever.
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Roussat pointed to Europe’s vulnerability to a non-state actor, like Starlink, having the power to single-handedly cut off the continent’s connectivity.
In April, Bouygues made a cash bid for the largest share in rival operator SFR for a total deal value of 20.35 billion euros ($23.6 billion), in what would be the largest European telecoms deal in recent years. In a joint bid with peers Free–iliad Group and Orange, Bouygues Telecom would get a 42% stake in SFR.
SFR is the second biggest telecoms operator in France, and an acquisition would cut the number of network operators in the country from four to three.
Regulatory scrutiny lies ahead, and the bidders will need clearance from antitrust authorities in order to move ahead, testing the European Commission’s appetite for consolidation in an already crowded telecoms market in Europe.
“The game for them [the European Commission] is to set up conditions where we will have a fair competition between us, and I think it’s possible,” Roussat said Thursday.
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