Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica and 13 other European telecom providers argued on Monday that big tech companies share network costs, citing the EU’s energy crisis and climate change targets.
The call comes as the European Commission prepares to seek comments from both sides before making a legislative proposal that could force tech companies to help with the costs of deploying 5G and fiber optics in all 27 countries in the bloc.
The sector, which invests around 50 billion euros annually in infrastructure, needs more funding and urgently, the presidents of telecom companies said in a statement.
“The costs of planning and construction works are increasing. Fiber optic cable prices, for example, nearly doubled in the first half of 2022. Likewise, increases in energy prices and other inputs are also hitting the connectivity sector,” they said.
“For this to happen and to be sustainable over time, we believe that the biggest traffic generators must make a fair contribution to the considerable costs they currently impose on European networks,” they added.
Other signatories to the declaration include telecom groups such as Vodafone, Bouygues Telecom, KPN, BT Group, Telecom Italia, Telia Company, Fastweb and Altice Portugal.
Telecom operators in Europe argue that US technology companies such as Google, Meta and Netflix account for more than half of internet traffic and must bear part of the cost of upgrading the infrastructure.
Tech companies reject such requests, saying they are already investing in equipment to deliver content more efficiently.
Source: CNN Brasil
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