Telecom regulators next to Big Tech against network load

Large internet companies receive support from the umbrella European organization of telecom regulators, BEREC, in their fight against the ‘network tax’ that European telecom operators want to impose on them. This writes Reuters.

Large telecom operators such as Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica and Telecom Italia want large platform providers, such as Google, Apple, Meta, Netflix, Amazon and Microsoft, to pay more to these operators. Especially since these companies account for almost half of the network traffic on the telecom networks.

With the extra money, the telecom companies then want to invest more in renewing and expanding their fixed internet and 5G infrastructure.

BEREC against plan operators

According to BEREC, the institution of a mandatory additional contribution from the EU to the development of the infrastructure of these telcos by Big tech companies is undesirable, Reuters writes.

The European telecom operators would not be bothered by the large tech companies at the moment and end users also have no disadvantage for their IP connections. In addition, an extra transfer fee would contribute little to the development of the internet infrastructure in the Member States to achieve the European targets.

Against net neutrality

In addition, such a contribution would favor large telecom operators. Especially those with their own streaming and/or cloud services. They could favor them, going against the mandatory EU net neutrality.

Smaller operators would also have a greater disadvantage, for example because they operate in a ‘lower’ economic environment and have less negotiating power. Furthermore, an extra fee could lead to less investment by the Big Tech providers.

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