Big Tech is Forcing Carriers To Invest in Networks, Says Orange CEO

Through the “huge” growth of internet traffic, Big Tech is “forcing” phone companies to invest heavily in improving networks while not helping to meet the cost, said Orange SA CEO Christel Heydemann. “We are condemned to invest in infrastructure,” Heydemann said. She added that network traffic is expected to “multiply by three or five” times in the next six years. That huge growth is “essentially captured by a few players, the big content providers, five players that force us to invest,” she added. Without naming specific companies, Heydemann said a future challenge would be work with large tech companies that she said are “forcing certain behaviors” on their users. Orange CFO Ramon Fernandez added that technology giants “hardly participate in the deployment of infrastructure” when, in the next four years, some “15 billion euros ($15.3 billion) of added investment will be required to absorb traffic growth” in Europe.