Utiq reaches 70 million users across six European markets

Utiq announced on November 15, 2025, that its telecommunications-powered advertising infrastructure reached 70 million users across six European markets. The Brussels-based company operates in Germany, Austria, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Italy through partnerships with more than 30 telecommunications operators and mobile virtual network operators.

According to Marc Bresseel, CEO of Utiq, the milestone demonstrates that privacy-compliant identity solutions can function at scale. "Performance is the promise we hold ourselves to, and the outcome we deliver for our partners," Bresseel stated. "Utiq was built to raise the bar on the open internet, turning authentic, consented signals into real reach, smarter frequency and measurable results. 70 million consentpasses shows that when you put trust, quality and accountability at the core, performance follows."

Over 300 premium publishers across Europe have integrated Utiq's technology into their digital properties. The infrastructure provides what the company terms "human-only addressability," enabling cross-device and cross-browser frequency control without relying on third-party cookies or device fingerprinting.

Technical architecture addresses fragmentation

The open internet currently operates in a fragmented state across devices, browsers, and networks. Audience recognition systems often duplicate counts, frequency control functions unreliably, and substantial portions of browsing sessions remain non-addressable or depend on probabilistic techniques.

Utiq's approach centers on telecommunications network signals rather than browser-based tracking technologies. The company partners with Deutsche Telekom AG, Orange SA, Telefónica S.A., and Vodafone Group plc as founding shareholders, creating encrypted addressability through deterministic methods focused on users who explicitly provided consent for marketing purposes.

The technical implementation processes network data into secure, pseudonymous signals only after obtaining user consent. This separation creates technical barriers between raw telecommunications information and advertising applications. Users provide consent through Utiq's consenthub portal, where they maintain ongoing control over privacy preferences.

The system generates two distinct signal types: martechpass for marketing technology applications and adtechpass for advertising technology platforms. These identifiers enable personalized targeting while adhering to European data protection regulations including GDPR requirements.

Expansion into fixed-line and connected television

Utiq extended its deterministic addressability capabilities beyond mobile networks into fixed-line broadband and connected television environments during 2025. The company partnered with Visoon Video Impact on September 28, 2025, to launch consent-based identifiers for hybrid broadcast broadband TV and CTV platforms.

Norman Wagner, Managing Director DACH at Utiq, stated that the Visoon partnership brought the company's technology to television for the first time. "With this partnership, we are bringing Utiq's strengths to the big screen for the first time — and demonstrating that data protection-compliant addressability also works in the TV ecosystem," Wagner said.

The connected television advertising market has experienced substantial growth during 2025. Large advertisers managing budgets exceeding $1 million annually plan 43% spending increases on addressable TV during 2026, according to research released by Go Addressable on November 6, 2025.

Publisher adoption across European markets

The UK market entry represented Utiq's most significant expansion during 2025. The company secured partnerships with Bauer Media Group, Immediate, and Netmums as launch partners on June 25, 2025, with Virgin Media O2 and Vodafone serving as telecommunications infrastructure providers.

Nathaniel Francis, Digital Revenue Operations Director at Bauer Media Group, described the partnership's importance for audience engagement. "Ensuring addressability across multiple sites and browsers is crucial for us to truly engage with and monetise our audiences," Francis stated. "Utiq will empower our first-party strategy by providing a scalable, privacy-compliant solution that enables us to connect with users in the way we envision – all while giving consumers full control over their data."

Ad Alliance, the marketing division of RTL Deutschland, integrated Utiq's technology on September 2, 2025, making approximately 4 million users addressable through privacy-compliant digital identification across n-tv, RTL, and STERN mobile properties.

Martin Hoberg, Chief Technology Officer at Ad Alliance, stated that Utiq strengthens the company's data strategy with European solutions emphasizing data protection principles. "With Utiq, we are strengthening our data strategy with another European solution that stands for clear data protection principles," Hoberg said. "In this way, we are building a stable bridge between reach, precision, and data protection – independent of third-party cookies or closed platforms."

Integration with major advertising platforms

Publicis Media France achieved certification as the first media group under Utiq's Trusted Partner Program on May 15, 2025. The certification validates comprehensive expertise across functional, integration, and activation dimensions of the telecommunications-powered technology.

The certification enables Publicis Media France's agencies—including Zenith, Starcom, Blue 449, Performics, Spark Foundry, Publicis Media Connect, and Publicis Commerce—to implement consentpass technology across client campaigns. Paul Leperchey, Head of Data at Publicis Media France, emphasized the strategic necessity of developing alternatives to traditional cookie-based approaches.

Utiq's integration with Adobe's Real-Time Customer Data Platform demonstrated substantial performance improvements in non-Chrome browser environments. A data-only campaign conducted with iq digital and GroupM for an automotive client achieved over 90% deterministic reach in non-Chrome browsers, resulting in a 290% uplift.

Svenja Onasch, Head of Data Management at iq digital, highlighted the partnership's significance. "The combination of privacy-first, innovative technology and constantly growing reach makes Utiq the ideal partner in our eyes to give advertisers and agencies like GroupM more opportunities to enter into a constant dialog with target groups," Onasch stated.

Performance measurement capabilities

Utiq launched Deterministic BrandLift in Germany on October 8, 2025, offering precise campaign measurement for budgets starting at 50,000 euros without cookies. The solution operates through deterministic identifiers and enables segmentation of exposed and control groups with analysis based on contact frequency.

Wagner described the tool as addressing a measurement gap in the open web. "With Deterministic BrandLift, we're closing a critical gap in the open web," Wagner stated. "Previously, brand lift measurement relied on inaccurate cookies or costly panels. Now, with our deterministic approach, we bring the precision and transparency that was once only possible in walled gardens."

The platform measures metrics including brand awareness, ad recall, consideration, favorability, and purchase intent. Advertisers receive data on optimal contact dosage, effectiveness of different publisher combinations, and performance comparisons against competitors.

Industry context and implications

The 70 million user milestone occurs as digital advertising infrastructure undergoes fundamental shifts. The fragmented open internet creates operational challenges for advertisers attempting to maintain frequency control and accurate measurement across environments. Safari browsers and other platforms with restrictive privacy implementations already represent substantial portions of digital inventory where traditional cookie-based targeting does not function.

Monica Rodriguez, Managing Director for Southern Europe at Utiq, argued that industry dependency on Google's cookie deprecation timeline represents a strategic mistake. "The industry has 'normalized' this waiting, operating at the pace imposed by a single company," Rodriguez stated in analysis published May 26, 2025.

Alternative identity solutions gain importance as browsers implement privacy controls and regulatory frameworks intensify enforcement. Gartner forecasts indicate that 75% of the global population will be covered by data privacy regulations by 2026, requiring organizations to develop privacy-compliant strategies regardless of specific browser policy timelines.

The telecommunications-powered approach positions Utiq differently from conventional advertising technology providers by leveraging network-level signals that operate independently of browser policies or operating system restrictions. The infrastructure requires explicit user consent mechanisms collected through telecommunications partnerships, creating what the company describes as authentic audiences rather than probabilistic estimates.

Utiq secured partnerships with 11 major supply-side platforms in January 2025, including Adform, Equativ, Index Exchange, Magnite, and PubMatic, enabling bidstream processing of identifiers across programmatic advertising environments. These integrations support efficient campaign purchasing across publisher inventory while maintaining privacy compliance through consent-based frameworks.

The company's continued expansion reflects growing publisher and advertiser adoption of telecommunications-powered identity solutions as alternatives to cookie-based targeting. Premium publishers choose the infrastructure because it delivers deterministic addressability, cross-device frequency control, and measurement capabilities that reduce media waste while respecting user privacy choices.

Timeline

• March 21, 2024: Utiq expands operations to Italy, appointing Christina Lundari as Managing Director
• February 12, 2025: Utiq partners with Onetag to integrate Authentic Audiences into Smart Curation platform
• March 27, 2025: Utiq's Adobe integration demonstrates 290% uplift in deterministic reach for non-Chrome browsers
• May 15, 2025: Publicis Media France becomes first media group to earn Utiq certification under Trusted Partner Program
• June 5, 2025: ID5 partners with Future Today to enhance CTV addressability across 1.5 billion ad impressions
• June 25, 2025: Utiq announces UK launch through Virgin Media O2 and Vodafone partnerships
• June 25, 2025: Utiq secures UK publisher partnerships with Bauer Media Group, Immediate, and Netmums
• July 9, 2025: Utiq partners with Visoon for privacy-first TV advertising expansion
• July 15, 2025: LG Ad Solutions integrates with Viant to advance CTV addressability across 45 million connected devices
• July 16, 2025: Wunderkind launches programmatic CTV pause ads demonstrating 79% cost reduction per store visit
• September 2, 2025: Ad Alliance partners with Utiq for cookieless targeting across RTL Deutschland properties
• September 28, 2025: Utiq and Visoon launch consent-based identifiers for HbbTV and CTV advertising
• October 8, 2025: Utiq launches Deterministic BrandLift measurement tool in Germany
• November 6, 2025: Large advertisers plan 43% spending increase on addressable TV by 2026
• November 15, 2025: Utiq announces 70 million user milestone across six European markets

Summary

Who: Utiq, a Brussels-based advertising technology company backed by Deutsche Telekom AG, Orange SA, Telefónica S.A., and Vodafone Group plc, operating through partnerships with more than 30 telecommunications operators and mobile virtual network operators across Europe.

What: The company reached 70 million users for its telecommunications-powered advertising infrastructure, providing deterministic, consent-based identifiers that enable addressable advertising and measurement without third-party cookies or device fingerprinting across mobile, fixed-line broadband, and connected television environments.

When: Utiq announced the milestone on November 15, 2025, following systematic expansion throughout 2025 including UK market launch in June, connected television partnerships in July and September, and measurement tool launches in October.

Where: The infrastructure operates across six European markets—Germany, Austria, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Italy—with over 300 premium publishers integrated and partnerships spanning 28 telecommunications operators providing network-level signal access.

Why: The milestone matters because it demonstrates that privacy-compliant, consent-based identity solutions can achieve scale as the advertising industry transitions away from third-party cookies, addressing fragmentation across devices and browsers while maintaining deterministic addressability, frequency control, and measurement capabilities that reduce media waste for brands and publishers operating on the open internet.