BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The CEOs of AT&T, Vodafone and Telefonica — three of the world’s largest cellphone companies — had some rare words of praise for U.S. regulators Monday, saying they’re doing better than their European counterparts in promoting faster wireless data networks.

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson told an audience at Mobile World Congress, the world’s largest cellphone trade show, that the U.S. government’s practice of selling phone companies large swathes of space of the airwaves for perpetual use was helping encourage companies, including AT&T, to build out large networks using the latest “LTE” technology.