European telecommunication groups ask Brussels to make Big Tech pay more for networks

Europe’s biggest telecommunications companies have called on the European Union to compel Big Tech to pay a “fair” contribution for using their networks, the latest stage in a battle for payments that has pitched the sector against companies such as Netflix and Google. Technology companies that “benefit most” from telecommunications infrastructure and drive traffic growth should contribute more to costs, according to the chief executives of 20 groups including BT, Deutsche Telekom and Telefónica. They added that regulators need to take action to help secure future investment, with telecommunications groups having to spend billions to support the rollout of 5G and upgrade to full-fiber networks. The companies suggested that a payment mechanism might only make demands on “the very largest traffic generators” with a focus on “accountability and transparency on contributions so that operators invest directly into Europe’s digital infrastructure." The so-called fair share initiative has been picking up support in Brussels, with the European Parliament in June “call[ing] for the establishment of a policy framework where large traffic generators contribute fairly to the adequate funding of [telecommunication] networks without prejudice to net neutrality.”