CNA – A clash between Big Tech and European Union (EU) telecoms firms over who will underwrite network infrastructure is set to dominate discussion at the world’s largest telecoms conference this week.
More than 80,000 people, including tech executives, innovators, and regulators, are set to descend on this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona.
EU industry chief Thierry Breton on Thursday launched a 12-week consultation on its “fair share” proposals, under which Big Tech platforms would bear more of the costs of the systems which give them access to consumers.
Representatives from companies including Alphabet, Meta and Netflix are expected to use the conference as a platform to push back against the EU proposals.
Content providers like Netflix, which has arranged for its CEO Greg Peters to meet with Breton at the conference, argue their firms already invest heavily in infrastructure.
They said that paying out additional fees will detract from investment in products that benefit consumers.
By contrast, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica and Telecom Italia have been actively lobbying for Big Tech to pay the fees. GSMA, an association representing more than 750 mobile operators and the organising body behind MWC, has been at the forefront of the debate.
“This discussion around ‘fair share’, or what we sometimes call the ‘investment gap’, is going to be a threshold question,” said GSMA’s chief regulatory officer John Giusti.
Critics of the fair share or “SPNP” (Sending Party Network Pays) model have warned the so-called “traffic tax” could lead content-driven platforms to route their services via ISPs (internet service providers) outside of the EU.
Orange told Reuters the telecoms industry was not asking for special privileges in its demands. A spokesperson said the EU’s consultation was a “positive first sign” of a debate starting.
