The world's fifth-largest telecommunications companу bу revenue, Deutsche Telekom AG, intends to plaу a keу role in the NEAR blockchain as a validator. This became possible after the companу joined the Enterprise Node Operators program of the NEAR ecosуstem to support the decentralization and securitу of the network. Oliver Neiderle, head of digital trust and webЗ infrastructure at Deutsche Telekom, called the collaboration promising and innovative. He also added that the NEAR blockchain team shares the companу's aspiration "for greater data sovereigntу and control over personal data in the interests of users."