According to a recent industry analysis, the EU should compel giant internet and video streaming corporations to pay at least a portion of the estimated €28 billion they have cost European telecommunications businesses due to their excessive usage of network infrastructure.
According to the research conducted by the consulting company Axon on behalf of the European Association of Telecommunications Network, the phenomenon costs European telecom operators between €15 billion and €28 billion every year.
By 2025, if some of these data-intensive technology corporations donated more than 20 billion euros to telecommunications providers to enhance network investments, 840,000 new jobs would be created, and global energy consumption would be reduced dramatically.
Fixing the imbalance
The analysis says that a move like that would boost additional expenditure in the industry on 5G networks and fiber. ETNO’s chief executive, Lise Fuhr, said they want to initiate an open debate with politicians, consumers, and technology firms on how to remedy specific imbalances in internet traffic markets.
Telecommunications companies have been embroiled in a multiyear argument with policymakers over whether big tech firms that use a lot of network data should be compelled to pay for some of the expensive infrastructure improvements undertaken by mobile and broadband operators, such as the billions spent on 5G and the comprehensive rollout of fiber.
The hope
The executives cited a recent case in South Korea, in which a court ordered Netflix to pony up for an increase in traffic on SK Broadband’s network late last year, which was caused by the success of its ‘Squid Game’ series.
They hope that European legislators will sympathize with their cause, citing a statement issued by the European Commission as part of its digital rights statement, which states that all market players benefiting from the digital transformation [should] make a fair and proportionate contribution to the cost of public goods, services, and infrastructure.