Google Says Decade-Old Demand for Shared Network Costs by EU Telecom Operators is Bad for Consumers

Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica and other big operators in the EU have long complained that tech giants use a huge part of Internet traffic on their networks and should contribute financially.

By Reuters | Updated: 26 September 2022 16:50 IST

Google Says Decade-Old Demand for Shared Network Costs by EU Telecom Operators is Bad for Consumers

He said Google, owner of YouTube, has done its part to make it more efficient for telecoms providers

Highlights

The idea was floated more than 10 years ago
These include six large data centres in Europe
Introducing a 'sender pays' principle is not a new idea

Alphabet unit Google on Monday rebuffed a push by European telecoms operators to get Big Tech to help fund network costs, saying it was a 10-year-old idea that was bad for consumers and that the company was already investing millions in Internet infrastructure.

The comments by Matt Brittin, president of EMEA business & operations at Google, come as the European Commission said it would seek feedback from the telecoms and tech industries on the issue in the coming months before making any legislative proposal.

Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica and other big operators have long complained about tech rivals freeriding on their networks, saying that they use a huge part of internet traffic and should contribute financially.

[Sponsored] Samsung Galaxy S24: The Ultimate Camera Phone With Smarter On-Device AI

The idea, floated more than 10 years ago, could disrupt Europe's net neutrality or open internet access, Brittin said.

"Introducing a 'sender pays' principle is not a new idea, and would upend many of the principles of the open Internet," he said according to the text of a speech to be delivered at a conference organised by telecoms lobbying group ETNO.

"These arguments are similar to those we heard 10 or more years ago and we have not seen new data that changes the situation."

Google System Update Brings Installation Tracking Across Devices: Details

It "could have a negative impact on consumers, especially at a time of price increases," Brittin said, citing a report by pan-European consumer group BEUC outlining such concerns.

He said Google, owner of YouTube, has done its part to make it more efficient for telecoms providers by carrying traffic 99 percent of the way and investing millions of euros to do so.

"In 2021, we invested over 23 billion euros in capital expenditure - much of which is infrastructure," Brittin said.

These include six large data centres in Europe, 20 subsea cables globally, with five in Europe, and caches to store digital content within local networks in 20 locations in Europe.

© Thomson Reuters 2022

Can Moto's new premium phones take on iPhone, OnePlus, and Samsung? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.