BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission will discuss investment spending and cloud infrastructure plans before it introduces legislation that could impose network costs on big tech companies and European Union telecom operators. I would like to ask, said a person familiar with the matter. Tuesday.
Major carriers such as Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), Orange (ORAN.PA), Telefónica (TEF.MC) and Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI) are among the six largest content providers, making such a move fair. It is all about the contribution of a good share. It accounts for just over half of Internet data traffic.
Tech giants like Alphabet (GOOGL.O)’s Google, Netflix (NFLX.O), Meta (META.O) and Amazon.com (AMZN.O) say the idea is equivalent to an internet traffic tax. European net neutrality rules that treat all users equally.
The commission plans to begin public consultations next week, including a lengthy questionnaire, but the timing could still change, the person said. He could take up to 12 weeks before the EU member states and her EU lawmakers pass the bill into law by the European Commission.
The European Commission will ask what they are investing in big tech and telecoms, how this will evolve and whether there is an investment gap, the person said.
As regulators want to move the discussion beyond spending on cables and pylons, they are asked for input on the move to cloud infrastructure and the investments required to do so.
Regulators also want to know the relationship between Big Tech and carriers.
The Commission will ask discussion participants about regulatory responses in other parts of the world regarding network pricing, such as South Korea and Australia, and lessons learned.
Reported by Foo Yun Chee.Editing by Josie Kao
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