In the midst of the implementation era of native 5G, the 5G SA that will soon begin to arrive after the auction of the 700MHz band has finally been held, the large European telecoms do not stop talking with the central government. Recently, the large telecommunications companies sent a joint statement to the European Commission in order to obtain financing for the deployment of a large Open RAN network common to all countries, but now the conversation is about costs.
Specifically, on who should bear the costs of maintenance, expansion and modernization of the different networks in Europe. And according to Reuters, the big telcos have come to the conclusion that if the US tech giants benefit the most and use these networks the most, they should bear part of the costs. And that includes Heavyweights of the caliber of Google, Facebook or Netflix.
You use more, you earn more, you pay more
According to Reuters, the large European telecoms have again agreed to ask the European Commission to require the large multimedia companies in the United States to pay part of the maintenance of the networks. We talk about an “alliance” of 13 major operators telecommunications companies with Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone at the helm.
The intention of the European telecommunications giants is to produce a kind of “pay-as-you-go” that directly targets companies the size of Netflix, Google (for Youtube) or Facebook. Companies whose network consumption due to video is so high that they also generate high maintenance costs.
“A large and growing part of the network traffic is generated and monetized by large technology platforms, but it requires continuous and intensive investment and planning in the network by the telecommunications sector,” said the statement released by Reuters.
The signatories of this communication are: Telefónica, Orange, KPN, BT Group, Telekom Austria, Vivacom, Proximus, Telenor, Altice Portugal, Tlia Company, Swisscom and the aforementioned Vodafone and Deutsche Telekcom. Technology companies consider that investments to maintain the networks amount to 52,500 million euros and they grow season after season.
“This model, which allows EU citizens to enjoy the fruits of digital transformation, can only be sustainable if these large technology platforms also contribute fairly to the costs of the network.”
More information | Reuters