EU to consult on Big Tech contribution to telco networks by end of Q1 2023

Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google logos are seen in this combination photo from Reuters files./File Photo

PARIS, Sept 9 (Reuters) – The European Union’s executive body will launch a consultation on whether tech giants should bear some of the costs of Europe’s telecoms network by the end of the first quarter of 2023, EU industry chief Thierry Breton said on Friday.

Europe’s telecoms operators have for long lobbied for a financial contribution of US tech firms such as Alphabet’s Google (GOOGL.O), Meta’s Facebook and Netflix (NFLX.O), saying that they use a huge part of the internet traffic.

“We also need to review whether the regulation is adapted with the ‘GAFAs’ (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon) for example, which use the bandwidth and the telecom operator,” Breton told reporters, speaking in French.

GAFA is the French acronym to designate the US biggest tech firms, including Netflix.

Breton said that this particular issue, or so-called potential “fair share” of US tech companies in the financing of the European telecoms and internet infrastructure, will be part of a wider consultation.

Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain, Editing by GV De Clercq and Tomasz Janowski

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