Fifty+ ISPs, NGOs and Broadcaster Groups Hit Out at 'Big Telco Bias' Driving Anti-competitive EU Net
upstart writes:
They suggest any move to legislative for a mechanism that funnels direct payments to telecom incumbents would have "immediate and wide-ranging" negative consequences for European businesses and consumer interest - arguing it would hit consumer costs and choice by damaging the diversity and quality of products and services available online, as well as harming competition.
"The risks of introducing network fees are many but ultimately the biggest threats would be to consumer rights, costs, and freedom of choice," they warn. "Users of the internet and mobile networks are the key players in the debate, not content providers. Consumers access content (and thus drive internet traffic and take-up), so the fee would effectively be a fee on consumer behaviour and choice."
[...] Major European telcos, meanwhile, want regional lawmakers to let them extract a network fee from Big Tech platforms whose popular services they claim are responsible for generating the most traffic across their fixed and mobile networks - spinning the ask to double dip (given consumers already paid them for connectivity) as getting tech giants like Meta and Netflix to contribute what they dub a "fair share" towards funding network infrastructure costs.
While the likes of Meta have pushed back that such a fee would actually be arbitrary and unfair.
Thing is, the European Commission, which is responsible for drafting EU legislative proposals, has been sounding suspiciously sympathetic to Big Telco's lobbying.
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