Debate on ‘fair sharing’ of Big Techs should dominate conference in Barcelona – 02/26/2023 – Market

A discussion between the big tech companies, the so-called Big Techs, and the European Union’s telecoms companies over who will finance the new network infrastructure is expected to dominate debates at the world’s largest telecoms conference this week.

More than 80,000 people, including technology executives, innovators and regulators, are expected to attend this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona.

One of the leaders of the EU telecom industry, Thierry Breton, launched a consultation on Thursday (23) on his “fair sharing” proposals, under which Big Tech platforms would bear more costs for the systems that give them access to consumers.

Representatives from companies including Alphabet, Meta and Netflix are expected to use the conference as a platform to challenge the EU proposals.

Content providers like Netflix, which arranged for its CEO Greg Peters to meet with Breton at the conference, argue that their companies already invest heavily in infrastructure.

They say paying additional fees will lessen investment in products that benefit consumers.

On the other hand, companies like Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica and Telecom Italia have actively acted to make Big Techs pay the fees.