For too long, security and trust in connectivity have been framed as a trade-off: every step taken to protect networks was assumed to slow rollout, increase cost or hold back innovation. Experiences in the last years in countries as diverse as the UK, India, or Sweden are showing that this narrative no longer fits reality.
As advanced connectivity becomes critical infrastructure for Europe’s economy; security and trust become a precondition for competitiveness, resilience and long-term growth. The question is no longer simply “How much does security and trust cost?”, but “What is the cost of not securing what everything else depends on?”
Trust is becoming a competitiveness issue
Mobile networks have evolved far beyond consumer connectivity. They now support energysystems, railways, publicsafety, defense, healthcare, manufacturing, logistics and transport. They are also becoming the foundation of the infrastructure behind artificial intelligence, cloud, automation and mission-critical services.
As their role expands, the need for end-to-end security and trust becomes more critical. Modern 5G networks are deeply interconnected across the core network, radio access network, edge, transport and Internet of Things environments. The idea that some parts of the network can be treated as “safe” or “non-sensitive” is increasingly outdated. Partial security creates blind spots, and those blind spots become risks and vulnerabilities when networks support essential services.
In this context, cybersecurity moves from being a technical feature to becoming one of the foundations of trust in Europe’s digital economy. No business will build advanced services on infrastructure it cannot trust. No government can rely on networks that expose critical systems to unnecessary risk. And citizens will only benefit fully from digital public services if the systems behind them are trustworthy, resilient and dependable.
That is why security, trust, competitiveness and innovation are increasingly interconnected. Trust supports adoption, adoption attracts investment, and investment enables new services to scale.
Security enables AI and advanced services
The next phase of AI will extend well beyond large data centers and increasingly shape the physical world: factories, hospitals, vehicles, energy and defense systems and other industrial environments. That changes what networks will need to do.
AI workloads will become more decentralized, more uplink-heavy and more latency-sensitive. Applications such as collaborative robots or drones, autonomous vehicles, remote operations, industrial control systems and connected medical services will have much lower tolerance for uncertainty. Average speed will matter less than whether the network can reliably deliver the right performance, at the right moment, for the application that needs it.
Best-effort connectivity will continue to play an important role, but it will not be enough for every AI-driven use case. The next wave of advanced services will require predictable performance, strong security and reliable service levels. This is where advanced connectivity based on 5G Standalone, and eventually 6G, becomes essential.
Security and trust therefore have to be designed into the network from the start. Regions that can provide trusted, high-performing networks will be better placed to attract AI investment, support industrial transformation and scale advanced digital services.
Security is an investment in resilience and growth
When stronger security requirements are discussed, including stronger supply-chain transparency or the phasing out of high-risk vendors, the debate often focuses on myth around cost. But the cost of insecurity is far higher.
Transitioning to trusted networks with proper planning can be managed in a way that supports modernization rather than delaying it. Network upgrades and vendor transitions can be phased over normal equipment lifecycles, aligned with investment plans and delivered without unnecessary disruption.
Viewed this way, security spending is better understood as risk-managed investment. It protects the infrastructure Europe increasingly depends on and unlocks the confidence needed for larger value pools in AI, industry, public services and critical operations.
Clear rules support investment and modernization
Clear security rules are also a prerequisite for long-term investment. The slow and fragmented implementation of the EU 5G Toolbox across European Member States has shown the limits of a voluntary framework without consistent. If Member States take very different approaches to high-risk vendors and critical network infrastructure, Europe is left with avoidable security gaps. Operators also face uncertainty about future requirements, which makes it harder to plan network modernization with confidence.
A harmonized European framework can help change this. The Digital Networks Act and the revision of the Cybersecurity Act could offer an opportunity to align security, investment and competitiveness more effectively. This matters because advanced networks require long-term planning.
Security expands what networks can do
Security and trust can also enable new business models. The more advanced and sensitive a use case becomes, the more it depends on trust. Differentiated connectivity, network slicing, quality on demand, location services, identity services and mission-critical networks all require strong assurance and governance. Together, these capabilities form the basis for services that businesses and public-sector organizations can rely on.
For operators, trusted networks create new opportunities to move beyond best-effort connectivity and offer services with assured performance, reliability and security. For enterprises, they make it possible to redesign operations around dependable digital infrastructure. For public services, they provide the foundation for more resilient, responsive and connected systems.
This is especially important in sectors such as public safety, defense, utilities, rail, logistics and healthcare, where connectivity failure can disrupt essential services. In these environments, security gives innovation the reliability and confidence it needs to scale.
Clear, enforceable supply chain standards can also support healthier competition and reward quality, resilience, innovation and compliance. They create a level playing field for autonomous suppliers that invest in secure and trustworthy products, transparent processes and long-term partnership.
Security and trust as Europe’s strategic differentiator
As connectivity becomes central to Europe’s economic backbone, supporting AI, cloud, industrial transformation and mission-critical services, competitiveness will be shaped not only by how fast it can build networks, but by how trusted those networks are. Europe now needs coherent policies that make trust a common standard and give Member States, operators, vendors and enterprises a clearer framework for secure modernization.
Secure and trusted networks give Europe the basis to scale its next wave of digital and industrial innovation with confidence. By making security and trust a core condition for investment and modernization, Europe can build the connectivity needed to protect essential services, reduce uncertainty and compete at scale.