Belgium, 26 September – On Monday, Alphabet (GOOGL.O) subsidiary Google rejected a plan by European telecoms operators to urge Big Tech to help pay for network expenditures, claiming that the idea was outmoded and damaging to users.
Google also stated that the company was already investing millions of dollars on internet infrastructure.
Before releasing any legislative suggestions, the European Commission stated that it will seek opinion from the telecoms and information technology businesses in the coming months. Matt Brittin, Google’s head of EMEA business and operations, made the remarks at the same time.
Several big operators, notably Telefonica (TEF.MC), Orange (ORAN.PA), Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), and others, have long alleged that tech rivals are exploiting their networks by using large amounts of internet traffic without paying for it.
According to Britain, the proposal, which was introduced more than 10 years ago, might undermine Europe’s net neutrality or free and open internet.
According to the text of a lecture scheduled to be delivered at a conference organized by the telecoms lobbying organization ETNO, the introduction of a “sender pays” concept is not a fresh idea that would undermine many of the open internet’s fundamentals.
These arguments have been made previously, perhaps 10 years ago or more, and nothing has changed as a consequence of new facts.
Brittin referenced a document from the pan-European consumer organization BEUC that expressed these concerns and claimed that it would be damaging to customers, particularly during a period of price increases.
He said that YouTube’s owner, Google, has helped telecom carriers improve their efficiency by carrying traffic 99% of the time and spent millions of dollars to do so.
These arguments have been made previously, perhaps 10 years ago or more, and nothing has changed as a consequence of new facts.
Brittin referenced a document from the pan-European consumer organization BEUC that expressed these concerns and claimed that it would be damaging to customers, particularly during a period of price increases.
He said that YouTube’s owner, Google, has helped telecom carriers improve their efficiency by carrying traffic 99% of the time and spent millions of dollars to do so.
