Risky business: managing through the uncertainty of Brexit in telecommunications

With so many areas affected by the potential British exit from the EU (Brexit) and the accompanying uncertainty, it is premature to form firm views as to how telecommunications players should react. Impact will depend largely on terms associated with withdrawal yet to be agreed between the UK and EU. Therefore, strategic planning and risk analysis will be critical.

With both UK and EU bodies placing such high importance in the development of the digital economy, many common goals may be set, though loss of ‘passporting’ and immediate access to international labour markets may cause concerns for larger firms seeking improved industry scaling.

In technical standards, policy and harmonisation, we see little advantage for UK entities to deviate materially from EU set objectives. However, most would agree that national markets and cultures differ widely across Europe; national regulatory policies and commercial strategies should account for these, enabling most effective conditions for innovation, commercial execution, and economic welfare.