ECB picks Deutsche Telekom and Telefónica for digital euro connectivity services

The European Central Bank has brought Deutsche Telekom and Spain's Telefónica into the digital euro project. According to the sources, the two companies belong to consortia that are meant to provide connectivity services for the planned digital currency 1. Golem.de describes the decision as the ECB's choice of the two telecoms groups for building the network behind the digital euro 2.

The available reporting is brief on specifics. Heise online names Deutsche Telekom and the Spanish group Telefónica as being among the consortia tasked with delivering connectivity services 1. The wording "among the consortia" indicates that the two companies are part of a wider group of participants rather than the only ones involved 1. Golem.de frames the move as the ECB bringing both firms into the project and presents its own piece as an analysis by Achim Sawall 2. The sources provided do not give contract values, timelines or the names of other consortium members, so those details remain unconfirmed here.

The decision matters because it ties two large European telecoms operators to the infrastructure of a prospective euro-area public payment instrument. Golem.de places the move against a political backdrop in which the EU is taking on US payment processors, while resistance is also forming 2. The sources do not explain who is resisting or on what grounds, so the shape of that opposition cannot be described from this material. Heise online presents the step as the central bank setting the course for the digital euro 1. What follows next, including any further awards or implementation dates, is not stated in the sources.