Largest European Telecoms Seek Action on Streaming Players

Chiefs of Vodafone Group, Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica, and Orange issued an urgent plea for European regulators to force large content platforms to contribute to the cost of the digital infrastructure delivering their services. An open letter pointed to the increasing demands on networks and stark differences in the profitability of businesses delivering and creating services.

Telefonica chairman and CEO Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete, Deutsche Telekom CEO Timotheus Hottges, Vodafone chief Nick Read and outgoing Orange chairman and CEO Stephane Richard noted video streaming, gaming and social media content originating from a few digital platforms accounted for 70% of network traffic, with the major players continually pushing higher-quality streams. They added these companies were profiting from hyperscaling business models at little cost while network operators shoulder the required investments in connectivity at a time when their retail markets were in perpetual decline in terms of profitability.

The letter echoes grievances operator executives have highlighted several times, with the inability to make a viable return on network investments cited as putting further infrastructure development and service quality at risk. Pointing to a broad European Commission pledge made in January 2022 to ensure all market players contribute to the cost of public services and infrastructure, the chiefs “urgently call upon legislators to introduce rules at European Union level to make this principle a reality“. “The clock is ticking loudly, particularly given the huge investments still required to achieve the connectivity targets for 2030 set by the European Commission... Without an equitable solution, we will not get there,“ CEOs said in a letter.