Tension: European telecoms pointed to BigTech, declaring ‘Without us, there would be no Apple, Google, Meta!’

According to CNBC, the tension between the European telecommunications industry and large US technology corporations (BigTech) is becoming more and more serious when countless business owners call for the European government to tax the Internet with corporations. This America.

According to European telecommunications industry bosses, corporations like Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon or Netflix account for half of the global internet traffic and claim that these BigTechs are making tens of billions of dollars in profits worldwide. Europe’s modern infrastructure.

Therefore, telecommunications entrepreneurs believe that BigTech also needs to shoulder the responsibility of investing in infrastructure, developing 5G technology or fiber optic networks in Europe, thereby ensuring fairness, not blaming. put on top of telecommunications enterprises.

“ Without our telecommunications industry, there would be no Google or Netflix. That’s why we play an extremely important role as the door for customers to access the world of technology as well as BigTechs, ” said Michael Trabbia, chief technology officer of Orange-France Group.

Mr. Trabbia’s speech was given during a February 2023 conference organized by the European Council (EC) to study whether to impose an Internet tax on BigTech to share the burden of public investment budget. .

Criticize vehemently

During a conference in Barcelona, ​​CNBC reported that countless telecom business owners have vehemently criticized the technology industry when they make money but leave the burden of responsibility on others.

Specifically, these entrepreneurs lamented about billions of dollars invested in cables, antennas, and infrastructure to meet Internet needs without receiving a dime from Big Tech.

During the same discussion, CEO Tim Hoettges of German telecommunications group Deutsche Telekom showed a chart comparing total market capitalization to show how the US BigTechs are dominating the game but are not. spend a dime on European infrastructure.

“ They should at least share a little, contribute to the infrastructure efforts that we are doing in Europe .” Mr. Hoettges lamented.

In the same opinion, technical director Howard Watson of BT said it is right to charge technology firms.

“Can an unequal business model continue to exist, when customers pay for technology firms and then content producers are also cut by these BigTechs? “, said Mr. Watson, referring to the fact that Google and Apple’s app marketplaces charge developers a commission.

In response, Netflix’s co-CEO Greg Peters said that imposing an Internet tax would have the opposite effect on consumers because the company had to pay too much for the content production team. If it costs more, either Netflix will have to cut the quality of the work, or have to pass this cost on to users to pay through raising the price.

Some technology leaders believe that telecom companies have been paid by users and if they ask BigTech to pay more, they will receive 2 times of payment. Others say the move will limit users’ access to the Internet.

Matt Brittin, director of EMEA-Google, said that paying this Internet tax will give technology companies that pay more money to use more service infrastructure, thereby creating distinction in the market.

Not giving up, Telenor CEO Sigve Brekke said: “ The story here has nothing to do with market discrimination or restrictions on Internet access. We just want to be fair and reduce the burden on infrastructure investment costs when the person who benefits the most from it pays the least .”

Persistent

In fact, telcos for more than 10 years have been complaining about the technology sector, such as WhatsApp or Skype, profiting from their infrastructure without paying properly.

However, this year’s workshop was attended by EU official, Mr. Thierry Breton, head of the EC’s domestic market department. Mr. Breton himself also said that it is necessary to find a reasonable financial solution to develop technology infrastructure in Europe to catch up with new trends, such as virtual universe.

The above conference took place in the context that countries are racing to develop technology infrastructure, for example, the US has spent trillions of dollars to build infrastructure towards the most advanced techniques to compete with China. Country.

According to Mr. Breton, businesses should not criticize each other or choose to be on the side of telecommunications or BigTech, but need to have a broader vision for the whole market. The development of technology infrastructure will benefit the entire enterprise, regardless of telecommunications or technology.

However, analyst Paolo Pescatore of PP Foresight said that Europe’s biggest challenge right now is policy. The lack of cross-border cooperation among members as well as the declining revenue of the telecommunications industry makes the story extremely complicated.

*Source: CNBC