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European telecommunications operators ask that technology companies share network costs

Sixteen European telecommunications operators, including Orange, Telefónica and Vodafone, want the big technology companies to share the network costs they face. It is not the first time they have done so, and this time, according to Reuters, they give the energy crisis and the objectives set by the European Union to fight climate change as reasons for the request. Both have led the operators to have to face more expenses and an increase in their costs.

The request has been made while the European Commission is waiting to receive information from both parties, both from the operators and from the technology companies, before making a bill that could force the technology companies to contribute financially to the deployment of 5G and fiber cables. by the countries that make up the European Union. In fact, countries like Spain, France and Italy also want them to bear part of the costs.

The telecommunications sector annually invests some 50,000 million euros in infrastructure, it urgently needs more financing. This has been indicated by the heads of the operators in a statement. In it, they point out that «planning and construction costs are increasing. The prices of fiber optic cables, for example, have almost doubled in the first half of 2022. At the same time, the rises in the prices of energy and various merchandise are also having an impact on the connectivity sector.”

The CEOs of telecommunications companies have also pointed out that “it is essential to act in time: Europe has missed many of the opportunities offered by the Internet for consumption. Now it must be made strong fast for the age of the metaverse. For this to happen, and for it to be sustainable over time, we believe that the largest traffic generators should make a fair contribution to the hefty costs they impose on European networks.”

The signatory operators of the petition point out that several technology companies in the United States, such as Alphabet, Meta or Netflix, which originate more than half of internet traffic, should bear some of the cut of the infrastructure update. As expected, the technology companies have rejected these requests, alleging that they are investing in equipment and technologies, with the aim of offering content more efficiently.

In addition to the three operators mentioned, several of the main European operators have also signed the petition: Bouygues Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, KPN, the BT Group, the TIM Group, Telia Company, Fastweb or Altice Portugal.

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