Breton plans consultation on big tech and telecom costs

By Foo Yun Chee

STRASBOURG, Feb 14 (Reuters) – EU Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton is set to launch a consultation on whether big tech should bear some of the costs of telecoms networks, he said. said ahead of a telecommunications conference to be held in Barcelona on Tuesday from February 27. to March 2.

EU telecom providers such as Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica and Telecom Italia have been trying for years to get big tech to pick up some of the infrastructure costs for 5G and broadband.

Telecom companies say the six largest content providers – Meta, Amazon.com Inc, Netflix Inc, Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp and Alphabet Inc’s Google – account for more than half of internet data traffic.

The tech giants say the idea amounts to a tax on internet traffic that could undermine EU net neutrality rules to ensure all users are treated equally.

Asked when the referendum will be launched, Breton told Reuters: “Wait for my speech in Barcelona. Yes, I will announce it soon. In Barcelona.”

The consultation is expected to last around 12 weeks before the European Commission proposes legislation that will need to be discussed by EU countries and MPs before becoming law.

Breton is convinced that the process will be concluded by the end of the year. “We will have time, yes,” he said.

The announcement of the start of the consultation in Barcelona is a clear sign of Breton’s support for the telecommunications sector, according to an industry source. This will be the first time that Breton has taken part in an event traditionally attended by the main telecommunications operators.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing in Spanish by Benjamín Mejías Valencia)