The CEO of TIM outlined how the telecom sector’s priorities are shifting as new digital applications place different demands on networks
In sum – what to know:
AI is interconnected – TIM CEO Pietro Labriola told MWC that telecoms infrastructure, cloud platforms, and AI technologies operate within the same digital ecosystem.
Network priorities – Future AI applications such as drones will require greater focus on latency, uplink performance, and network capabilities rather than raw download speed.
Digital sovereignty – Data jurisdiction, operational contro,l and technology governance requires clarity as digital infrastructure becomes more globally interconnected.
At MWC in Barcelona, Pietro Labriola, chief executive at Italian carrier TIM, said the telecom industry must rethink its role in the digital ecosystem as AI, cloud, and connectivity become increasingly interconnected. He outlined in a keynote how the telecom sector’s priorities are shifting as new digital applications place different demands on networks.
According to the executive, emerging applications such as AI-driven systems and autonomous technologies require different network capabilities than traditional consumer internet services. Labriola also argued that telecom networks, cloud infrastructure and AI platforms form an interconnected digital stack.
“Telecommunication, cloud and AI are all components of the same food chain. We must be very clear: Without telecommunication services, without a network, you cannot have a cloud. And AI doesn’t work without cloud. So we are all part of a common digital system.”
A major theme of the keynote was digital sovereignty, which Labriola said remains poorly understood despite frequent discussion across the technology sector. “Digital sovereignty means data sovereignty,” he said, explaining that the concept involves determining both where data is stored and which jurisdiction governs it.
The pace of technological change was another key message in the keynote. Labriola illustrated this with examples of how quickly digital platforms have scaled compared with earlier telecommunications infrastructure. “To have 100 million fixed lines in the world, it took 75 years. To have 100 million Facebook accounts, it took 7 years. To have 100 million TikTok accounts, it took 2 years. To reach 100 million ChatGPT accounts, it took 6 months.”
For Labriola, this acceleration creates risks for companies that underestimate how quickly the industry is evolving. “We are in some way like the frog in boiling water. While we are there, we don’t understand how fast things are changing. We have to jump out from that point. We have to start to think and look at how fast things are changing,” he added.
