Political advocacy

Deutsche Telekom stands for political advocacy based on ethical principles and legal requirements. We are committed to the core interests of our company – in terms of business models and operational concerns. The focus will also be on topics such as digital innovations or the interaction between climate protection and digitalization. Our claim: We always act in accordance with our values and guidelines.

We deal with our consumer policy commitment separately under Consumer protection here in the CR report. We address other stakeholder groups such as employees and investors in our Sustainability statement 2025.

Our approach

In principle, all employees are obliged to comply with our existing Group guidelines. The following requirements apply in particular to employees in the field of political advocacy:

• Principles for donations in the political sphere

• Acceptance and Granting of Benefits Policy

• Anti-Corruption and Other Conflicts of Interest Policy

• Consultant Policy

• Sponsoring Policy

• Donation Policy

This overall set of rules forms the basis for open, transparent and legally compliant political representation of interests.

Values and instruments for political representation

When working with parliaments, governments and social organizations, objective communication, competence, credibility and integrity are important to us. Our Code of Conduct states that our partners in politics, associations and other social groups must maintain their independence and integrity. Donations to political institutions, parties and elected officials, for example, are prohibited.

Deutsche Telekom is registered in the EU public transparency register for interest representatives. In Germany, we have been registered with the German Bundestag and the Federal Government since the introduction of the lobby register for the representation of interests. As part of our participation in associations and corresponding committees, we are of course committed to complying with ethical principles and legal requirements.

Central topics for our advocacy in 2025:

• Fiber-optic and 5G expansion

• Public safety/resilience and cybersecurity

• European and sovereign cloud ecosystem

• Platform regulation

• Green ICT

• Fair Share (fair cost distribution in grid expansion)

• Artificial Intelligence

• Future of digital network infrastructure

• EU Taxonomy

• Industrial electricity price

Transparency on lobbying expenditures

Through membership fees and donations, we support associations and other associations, for example, financially. So far, there is no overarching definition of lobbying expenditure. That is why we publish our lobbying expenditures in accordance with the applicable transparency requirements:

Support for associations

Active participation in associations is a central component of our representation of interests. Therefore, most of the expenditure in this area is accounted for by membership fees for top, professional and industry associations. In the following overview, we transparently show our highest contribution payments over the past three years:

Our commitment to an open Internet

We are committed to the EU regulations for an open Internet. In order to cope with the rapidly growing data traffic and enable innovation, we are constantly expanding our infrastructure. This will enable us to meet the increasing demand for high-quality services and meet the expectations of online content and application providers.

Together with other telecommunications companies, we offer the latest network architecture – 5G networks – nationwide, which use network slicing to better and more flexibly map the different transmission quality requirements of specific services. In this way, we meet the expectations of business and politics and promote innovation in the services offered via our networks. There is no control of content. In the future, we will continue to rely on cooperation with competitors for services with guaranteed quality features.

Our contribution to the EU Green Deal

The telecommunications industry can use innovative technologies and modern digital infrastructure to promote sustainable solutions and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In this way, telecommunications companies are also contributing to the goals of the EU Green Deal. Our ambitious climate targets support the principles of the Green Deal. We are continuously investing in grid expansion and enabling the development of a resilient infrastructure – the basis for digital solutions to protect the climate. We are also constantly improving the Energy and resource efficiency of our grids and data centers and are working on circular products. Further information can be found here in the CR report under Products and services.

Looking ahead

Against the backdrop of upcoming reforms at EU level, the EU is currently preparing adjustments to key telecommunications law frameworks. The amendment concerns in particular the Digital Networks Act and the further development of existing telecommunications laws and is expected to require adjustments to the respective national legal frameworks. We would like to support these legislative processes with our expertise in order to help shape reliable and innovation-friendly framework conditions.