2026 Company and service scores

The 2026 Telco Giants Edition by Ranking Digital Rights assesses 12 major telecom companies on their performance across three top-level categories: governance, freedom of expression and information, and privacy.

Telefónica leads the overall rankings with 57% (p.2), followed by MTN at 42% and América Móvil at 41%. Deutsche Telekom (40%), Vodafone (39%), AT&T and Telenor (both 38%), and Orange (36%) form the mid-range. e& (21%), Axiata and Bharti Airtel (both 20%), and Ooredoo (14%) rank lowest (p.2).

Lenses

Lenses are custom, thematically linked sets of indicators drawn from all three assessment categories, providing a quick understanding of companies’ performance on key focal areas such as algorithmic transparency, government demands, and user agency (p.2).

Algorithmic transparency (industry average: 15%): Telefónica leads at 43%, followed by Deutsche Telekom at 20%. Most companies score below 15%, with Ooredoo lowest at 4% (p.3).

Policy enforcement (industry average: 14%): Telefónica leads at 23%, with Orange second at 21%. Axiata scores lowest at 4% (p.3–4).

Data handling (industry average: 29%): Deutsche Telekom leads at 57%, with Telefónica second at 43%. Ooredoo scores lowest at 12% (p.4).

Government demands (industry average: 33%): Telefónica leads at 72%, followed by América Móvil at 54%. Ooredoo scores lowest at 2% (p.4–5).

Network management (industry average: 34%): Telenor leads at 60%, followed by MTN at 58%. Ooredoo scores lowest at 3% (p.5).

Private requests (industry average: 19%): Telefónica scores 100%, with América Móvil second at 67%. Seven companies — Axiata, Bharti Airtel, Deutsche Telekom, e&, Ooredoo, Orange, and Telenor — score 0% (p.5–6).

Security (industry average: 57%): Telefónica leads at 81%, followed by Vodafone at 75% and Deutsche Telekom at 73%. e& and Ooredoo score lowest at 33% (p.6).

Targeted advertising (industry average: 19%): Telefónica leads at 40%, followed by Orange at 27%. Ooredoo scores lowest at 7% (p.7).

User agency (industry average: 30%): Telefónica leads at 52%, followed by Deutsche Telekom at 38%. Ooredoo scores lowest at 11% (p.7–8).

Performance over time

Historical data from 2017 to 2026 shows varied trajectories across companies. Telefónica improved from 33% in 2017 to 57% in 2026 (p.9–10). MTN improved from 15% in 2017 to 42% in 2026, and América Móvil from 21% in 2017 to 41% in 2026 (p.9). Orange improved from 32% in 2017 to 36% in 2026, dipping to 26% in 2022 (p.9–10).

Most companies’ scores dropped between 2019 and 2020 with the inclusion of new indicators on targeted advertising and algorithmic systems (p.10).