Joint stakeholders statement against the ‘fair share’ contribution

The European Commission is set to introduce a legislative initiative to make content-heavy platforms contribute to the cost of telecom networks before the end of the year. Broad coalition of stakeholders has come together to publicly warn against introducing network fees

Earlier in February, the European Commission launched a consultation on the Connectivity Package. It includes a consultation on the idea of a ‘fair share’, which would require large traffic generators to pay a contribution. This has prompted concerns from several sectors and interest groups due to the potential violation of the net neutrality principle, as it could be based on putting specific conditions on certain large traffic generators.

The EU’s effort in area, comes after large telecom operators pointing out how they are continuously asked to invest in upgrading their networks’ capacity whilst a handful of tech companies reap most of the economic benefits. The EU’s copyright rules are somewhat of a blueprint for the senders-pay initiative, as they set a precedent in trying to redistribute revenues generated in the digital economy with regulatory intervention.

This statement is signed by NGOs, rightsholders, broadband service providers, cloud associations, and Wikimedia. The signatories consider the harm to consumers would come from the fact that the network contribution would be passed on to them, whilst their choice will be reduced as content companies will have less money to invest and distribute new content.

As noted in their statement: ‘this is an unprecedented alliance of stakeholders all united against one principle: introducing a mandatory network fee, or “fair share” contribution’

The Connectivity Package report included a preliminary assessment of the impact of the proposal for direct payments to content providers to certain telecom operators. The report concluded that the proposed model would have a negative impact on the functioning of the Internet economy, and that the proposed model would be likely to distort competition in the telecom market.