The European Union wants Internet giants to finance part of the telecommunications networks

57% of internet data traffic in Europe in 2021 is due to Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Netflix. These companies, in addition to massively evading tax payments in Europe, but that’s a story for another day, They are the ones that cause the most data consumption and reap multi-million dollar benefits but they don’t put a single euro into maintaining these infrastructures, the construction and maintenance of which is the responsibility of the big telephone operators such as Orange, Deutsche Telekom or the Spanish Telefónica.

These ensure that they spend tens of billions of euros each year to increase the capacity of networks as traffic increases. The European Commission wants this to change e that the Internet giants bear part of the costdirectly financing or paying some kind of toll to the operators.

Even the internet giants have their argument. They ensure that they create the content, not the telephone operators. And that the latter’s business (charging citizens and companies for Internet access) it wouldn’t exist if there were no content to access.

They understand that Internet users and the rates they pay for their connections would be lower if there were no companies providing engaging content to charge people to access them.

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The European Commissioner for Industry, Thierry Breton, explains that data networks for the Internet they are no longer prepared for heavy traffic who argue and want the costs to be distributed differently in its modernization and expansion, making the Internet giants pay, which could also cause another fight with Washington because the majority are Americans.

Brussels is now starting consultations with telephone operators to find out when and how they will be able to build larger networks and at the same time with the Internet giants, who are carrying out an intense lobbying campaign stop a proposal which, if approved, would involve a now non-existent cost.

Breton recalled that the European Declaration of digital rights and principles requires that “all market operators who benefit from the digital transformation They must assume their social responsibilities and make a fair and proportionate contribution to public goods, services and infrastructure, for the benefit of all Europeans”.

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The European Commission does not want the change in the financing of networks to lead to privileges for those who pay for them. Breton promises that the idea is to maintain internet neutrality. Basically, that internet traffic is all the same and that the traffic of giants is not given primacy.

Breton said on Thursday that at a time of “major technological upheavals” the European Union must “do everything possible to build a single market for the digital decade”.

The proposal is the first step of an initiative which is now in the consultation stage in which they can participate openly (they already do it privately with their lobbying activities) both operators and internet giants and user associations.

Breton also presented an initiative that seeks for all European citizens and businesses to have access to 5G connections by 2030, accelerating the deployment of these networks.