The European Commission would be evaluating a proposal to ensure that the tech companies using more bandwidth in Europe contribute to the expenses for the improvement of internet infrastructures in the Old Continent.
The proposal is present in a draft seen by Bloomberg and contains a series of suggestions for the “fair-share” that could be required of large technology companies, which they provide streaming services or platforms that require a high data consumption, to recognize a contribution based on the traffic generated.
The draft document suggests that companies could contribute to a fund to offset the costs incurred for the development of 5G mobile networks and fiber infrastructure. However, there is also talk of the creation of a mandatory system of direct payments for tech giants and telecom operators.
The commission also allegedly asked companies whether there should be one threshold for labeling a company as a “large traffic generator”to establish an objective criterion.
The proposal has not yet landed on the table of the European Council, much less in the Plenary in Brussels, and the path promises to be anything but simple. As noted by Bloomberg, EU regulators stressed in October that there is no evidence that companies like Netflix or YouTube should pay telecoms companies for infrastructure investments, and such a proposal could cause “significant damage to the ecosystem”.
The consultation of the European Commission will last another two or three months, after which what to do will be evaluated.
Still on the subject of streaming, the first information on the stop sharing of Netflix accounts arrived today.
