ITI: Network Fees Would Hurt European Innovation, Limit Consumer Choice
BRUSSELS – Global tech association ITI issued the following statement in reaction to the European Commission’s results from its exploratory consultation on “The Future of the Electronic Communications Sector and Its Infrastructure,” from its Director General for Europe Guido Lobrano:
“We share the Commission’s connectivity goals and are committed to ensuring better access to high-speed internet coverage for all Europeans. As the results of the exploratory consultation show, the large majority of the respondents expressed concerns and opposed the introduction of network usage fees to fund network deployment. Introducing network usage fees would significantly undermine Europe’s effort to achieve its connectivity goals, negatively impacting consumers and fundamentally changing the internet as we know it. As underlined by ITI and other respondents, network fees hamper innovation by diverting resources away from other important investments, ultimately leaving European consumers and businesses with higher costs and fewer choice and competition for services and content. We will continue to work with the Commission to ensure Europe is a key enabler for a digital society and economy.”
ITI submitted comments (opens in a new tab) to the Commission’s exploratory consultation in May. In those comments, ITI stresses that because of technical improvements and cooperation between network operators and content and application providers, the cost of carrying data traffic is near zero. Rather, the relationship between networks and internet-based services is symbiotic – they mutually drive demand for the offerings of the other. Given the many fundamental issues that still remain open, it is imperative that the Commission conducts a fulsome, substantive impact assessment and a proper public consultation before moving forward with the Digital Networks Act announced by Commissioner Breton.
Read ITI’s submission to the consultation in full here (opens in a new tab).
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