European Union Telecoms regulators’ group BEREC on Friday warned against pushing the European Commission to get legislation proposed by the sector big techhelp pay for the rollout of 5G and broadband, saying it did not see competition problems or market failure.
The comments from European regulators at the European Commission for Electronic Communications (BEREC), which is now looking into the issue, underscore the high-stakes battle between Big Tech and Europe’s flagship. Telecom operators.
“There is no evidence of a competition problem or market failure to the detriment of end-users with respect to IP-interconnection,” the group said.
Echoing Big Tech’s arguments, BEREC said it was skeptical about mandatory network fees imposed on companies.
“It is doubtful that mandatory payments from CAPs (content and application providers) to ISPs (Internet service providers) will help member states meet connectivity targets,” BEREC said.
“In contrast, it is likely that ISPs in areas that are already well-supplied will benefit most.”
It added that a mandatory fee could disadvantage smaller telecom operators with less economies of scale and bargaining power, while other telecom companies could discriminate with their streaming or cloud services and unfairly promote these services. Can give
BEREC said such a fee could increase prices for consumers, deter Big Tech from investing and violate EU net neutrality rules.
Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica and Telecom Italia are lobbying Big Tech to bear some of the network costs.
Alphabet‘S Google, Apple, meta platform, Netflix, Amazon.Com And MicrosoftWhich the telco says accounts for more than half the data internet traffic, has rejected the offer.
© Thomson Reuters 2023